BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

<> 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


GENERAL  WM.  T.  SHERMAN. 


THE 


MEMORIAL    LIFE 


OF 


GENERAL  WILLIAM  TEGUMSEH  SHERMAN 


BY 
PRIVATE  EDWARD  CHASE 


WITH  AN   INTRODUCTION  BY 

GENERAL  C.  H.  HOWARD 


Illustrated 


CHICAGO: 
R.  S.  PEALE  &  CO. 

1891. 


COPYRIGHT 

BY   R.    S.    PEALE 

189! 


UE  FAR',' 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HIS  ANCESTRY  AND  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCES   IN  EARLY  LIFE 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

IN  THE  SOUTH  — EARLY  TRAINING  WHICH  WAS  OF  SUBSEQUENT 
.  VALUE-THE  LIEUTENANT  LAYS  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  GEN- 
•  ERAL'S  SUCCESS .' 17 

CHAPTER  III. 

SERVICES    IN    THE    MEXICAN   WAR  — MARRIAGE    AT   WASHINGTON, 

AND   HONORABLE  ACTION  AT   NEW  ORLEANS 22 

CHAPTER  IV. 

EXPERIENCES  IN  CIVIL  LIFE-PARTNER  IN  A  BANKING  HOUSE  AT 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  HE  WEATHERS  A  FINANCIAL  STORM  WITH  THE 
SKILL  OF  A  VETE<RAN  —  RETURNS  TO  NEW  YORK  AND  SOON 
BECOMES  HEAD  OF  A  MILITARY  SCHOOL  -  PROMPT  RESPONSE 
TO  A  REQUEST  FOR  HIS  VIEWS  ON  THE  QUESTION  OF  SECES- 
SION-RESIGNS HIS  POSITION  AT  THE  OUTBREAK  OF  THE 
REBELLION.  .. 28 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  REBELLION— SHERMAN  IS  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  A  HORSE  RAIL- 
ROAD IN  ST.  LOUIS  WHEN  SUMTER  FALLS— READY  FOR  ACTIVE 
SERVICE  AS  WHEN  THE  MEXICAN  TROUBLES  OCCURRED 41 

CHAPTER  VI. 

FIGHTING  BY  DIPLOMACY  —  THE  TRICKS  OF  SECESSIONISTS  FOR 
CONTROLLING  BORDER  STATES— SHERMAN'S  PROMPTNESS  SAVES 
KENTUCKY  AND  MISSOURI  FROM  THE  CONSPIRATORS— HIS  SU- 
PERIORS COULD  NOT  COMPREHEND  THE  SITUATION 71 

CHAPTER  VII. 

FROM    SHILOH    TO    MEMPHIS-DOING    THE    WORK    AND     THANKED 

CORDIALLY  BY  GENERAL  GRANT ...I04 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

OPENING  THE  MISSISSIPPI— TENTATIVE  MOVEMENTS  AND  STRANGE 
INTERFERENCE  WITH  FIELD  COMMANDERS  FROM  WASHINGTON. 

CHAPTER   IX. 

VICKSBURG  AND  ITS  RELULTS— WORK  OF  PREPARATION  FOR  THE 
GREAT  SIEGE— HARD  FIGHTING  AND  THE  FINAL  OPENING  OF 
THE  MISSISSIPPI 175 

CHAPTER   X. 
RELIEF  OF  CHATTANOOGA. 

SERVICES  OF  SHERMAN  AND  HIS  COMMAND  IN  THE  RELIEF  OF 
ROSECRANS'  ARMY  WHEN  PENNED  AT  CHATTANOOGA-SIMPLE 
ACCOUNT  OF  THE  WORK  AND  THANKS  FROM  CONGRESS 212 

CHAPTER  XI. 

NEARING  THE  END— THE  MARCH  TO  ATLANTA  —  CUTTING  THE 
CONFEDERACY  AGAIN— ALL  THE  ARMIES  MOVING  FOR  A  COM- 
MON PURPOSE  AND  TO  MEET  VICTORIOUS 261 

CHAPTER  XII. 

FROM  ATLANTA  TO  THE  SEA-PRELIMINARY  OPERATIONS 375 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

ON  THE  MARCH 4oa 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

MARCHING   HOMEWARD 436 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PEACE-CLOSING   SCENES   OF    THE    GREAT  REBELLION-SHERMAN'S 

RECORD  AND  THE  MANIPULATIONS  OF   POLITICIANS 501 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

SERVICES  IN  PEACE-DEATH 529 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

Citizens  who  would  realize  the  thrill  of  patriotic  enthusi- 
asm which  stirred  the  national  pulse  during  the  war  must 
seek  on  all  sides  for  points  of  view  which  shall  cover  the 
scene  and  present  the  widest  grasp  of  moving  causes.  It  is 
not  denied  that  patriotism  was  general;  it  may  '  perhaps  be 
said  that  all  hearts  were  inspired  with  the  same  hope  of  a 
reunited  country  and  more  firmly  established  institutions. 
Still  there  remains  the  necessity  of  looking  along  the  line 
which  stretched  from  forsaken  homes  to  the  headquarters 
tent  of  the  commanding  general  that  the  picture  may  be  all- 
embracing.  There  was  wide  difference  in  the  chances  of 
advancement  between  the  private  in  the  ranks  and  the  colonel 
at  the  head  of  his  regiment.  The  outlook  between  these  two 
points  covers  a  large  range  and  includes  all  that  constitutes 
the  test  of  army  feeling. 

There  were  few  lives  in  which  this  field  was  covered.  None 
in  which  it  is  touched  at  all  points  as  in  that  of  William 
Tecumseh  Sherman.  To  the  soldier  in  the  ranks  General 
Sherman  appeared  as  the  sum  of  all  that  was  noble  in  a  com- 
mander. He  possessed  none  of  those  characteristics  which 
kept  constantly  in  view  a  life  of  preparation  for  military  duty. 
His  every  act  showed  something  of  the  preparation  for  pres- 
ent duties  which  made  the  performance  of  work  in  hand  seem 
natural.  Sherman  was  a  soldier  because  of  the  emergency 
which  called  him  from  peaceful  pursuits,  and  not  because 
he  had  been  educated  at  public  expense  to  a  knowledge  of 
military  tactics. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

Of  the  grand  work  with  which  his  name  has  been  linked 
his  intimate  associates  have  borne  faithful  tribute.  It  is  my 
object  to  present  the  view  of  General  Sherman  from  the 
ranks,  and  to,  in  some  manner,  exhibit  the  causes  which  in- 
spired the  strong  affection  felt  for  their  commander  by  all  who 
had  served  under  him  and  shared  with  him  in  his  triumphs. 
It  is  not  the  story  of  one  for  whom  the  fortunes  of  war  held 
prizes.  With  the  gun  on  my  shoulder  I  left  the  humble  roof 
that  had  sheltered  me  during  the  whole  of  the  eighteen  years 
of  my  life.  With  that  gun  I  returned  in  the  ranks  still,  but 
filled  with  pride  that  my  early  ambition  had  been  gratified, 
and  that  no  misfortune  had  been  placed  to  my  discredit  be- 
cause of  unfaithfulness. 

They  were  four  years  of  hardships  and  danger,  but  filled 
with  an  experience  which  has  been  valuable  in  subsequent 
life,  and  in  no  particular  of  greater  personal  comfort  than  in 
the  opportunity  of  placing  this  tribute  on  the  grave  of  a  loved 
commander  with  the  hope  that  it  may  give  pleasure  to  com- 
rades who  remember  the  half-grown  lad  plodding  with  them 
during  the  war,  bearing  his  share  of  the  little  annoyances  of 

camp-life,  and  the  name  of 

"TEDDY"  CHASE. 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  was  to  be  expected  that  veterans  of  the  Civil  War  would 
be  interested  in  any  full  and  accurate  life  of  General  Sher- 
inan.  This  would  especially  be  true  of  those  who  were  under 
his  command,  or  in  any  way  participated  in  the  campaigns 
with  which  his  world-wide  fame  was  associated.  But  in  read- 
ing the  proof-pages  of  the  present  work,  the  writer  has  not 
only  been  deeply  interested  in  the  narratives  of  battles  and 
campaigns,  in  which  he  was  more  or  less  closely  associated 
with  General  Sherman,  but  has  received  new  impressions  of 
the  General's  character,  and  has  found  that  other  periods 
of  his  life,  comparatively  little  known,  possess  an  absorbing 
interest.  There  was  never  anything  commonplace  about 
Sherman.  As  a  boy,  a  youth  at  West  Point,  or  in  his  first 
Indian  campaigning  in  Florida,  a  young  officer  in  California, 
or  afterward  as  a  banker  in  San  Francisco,  not  many  years 
later  at  the  head  of  the  State  Military  School  of  Louisiana, 
as  commander  of  a  brigade  at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run, 
or  in  his  more  responsible  position,  better  known  to  the  pub- 
lic during  the  remainder  of  the  war,  there  is  a  picturesque 
and  striking  quality,  that  must  always  compel  the  attention, 
if  not  the  admiration,  of  the  reader. 

It  is  not  easy  to  satisfy  his  old  companions  in  arms  in  any 
estimate  of  Sherman's  military  genius.  Those  who  stood 
by  his  side  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh,  or  Mission  Ridge,  or  on 
the  hotly  contested  fields  about  Atlanta,  as  the  writer  often 
has  done,  have  no  hesitation  in  giving  General  Sherman  the 
first  rank  for  coolness  and  clearness  of  mind,  and  readiness 

5 


6  INTRODUCTION 

of  resource  in  action.  Those  who  participated  in  the  active 
campaign  of  ninety  days  in  the  pursuit  of  Johnston  from  Chat- 
tanooga to  Atlanta,  in  which  the  three  great  armies  co- 
operated under  the  one  directing  and  controlling  mind,  will 
always  remember  with  admiration  the  celerity  of  movements, 
the  rapid  and  unexpected  changes  of  front,  the  happy  adapta- 
tion to  the  varying  topography,  the  successful  out-maneuver- 
ing of  the  astute  Johnston  on  the  Etowah  River,  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  on  the  Chattahoochee,  and  in  the  final  capture 
of  Atlanta.  The  quick  sagacity,  which  first  conceived  and 
then  successfully  executed  the  plan  of  such  a  campaign,  and 
the  still  bolder  and  more  astonishing  one  of  the  "March  to  the 
Sea,"  and  through  the  Carolinas  to  the  expected  consumma- 
tion at  Bentonville,  resulting — together  with  the  necessary 
part  performed  by  Grant  and  his  forces  in  the  final  collapse 
of  the  Rebellion — this  genius  for  grand  tactics,  puts  Sherman 
abreast  of  the  Alexanders,  the  Fredericks,  the  Napoleons  and 
the  Washingtons  of  the  World's  history. 

Among  other  impressions  that  have  come  to  me  afresh  in 
reading  this  work  is  that  of  the  moral  basis  of  Sherman's 
character.  As  a  boy  of  nine,  when  his  honored  father,  Judge 
Charles  R.  Sherman,  died,  and  the  lad  was  adopted  by  the 
Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  his  adopted  father  could  say  of  the 
little  orphan  that  he  was  "remarkable  for  accuracy  of  mem- 
ory and  straightforward  truthfulness."  The  fact  that,  as  a 
youthful  officer  in  Florida,  he  formed  friendships  which  lasted 
a  life-time  with  such  sterling  men  as  Ord,  Van  Vliet,  and 
George  H.  Thomas,  is  evidence  of  a  sincerity  and  fidelity, 
indicating  the  same  high  moral  quality.  None  of  that  per- 
sonal jealousy  or  rivalry  so  common  among  army  officers, 
could  ever  make  Sherman  swerve  in  his  affection  for  General 
George  H.  Thomas. 

When   located   in   Charleston   Harbor  and  in   Georgia,  a 


INTRODUCTION  / 

young  man,  although  fond  of  hunting  and  all  active  sports, 
he  yet  found  time  to  study  Blackstone,  Kent,  and  other  sub- 
stantial works  on  law. 

After  he  resigned  his  commission  in  the  army  and  took 
charge  of  a  branch  bank  in  San  Francisco,  when,  from  no 
fault  of  his,  reverses  came,  we  find  him  now,  in  his  early 
manhood,  and  with  the  responsibilities  of  a  growing  family, 
unwilling  to  save  himself  at  the  sacrifice  of  others,  and  in- 
sisting on  paying  dollar  for  dollar.  Honesty  was  a  cardinal 
trait  in  every  position  in  life  he  was  called  to  occupy.  This 
phase  of  his  character,  and,  at  the  same  time,  his  capacity 
for  patriotic  devotion,  were  illustrated  when  the  war-cloud 
actually  broke  upon  the  land.  Sherman  was  then  at  the 
head  of  the  Louisiana  State  Military  College  at  Alexandria. 
On  the  1 8th  of  January,  1861,  Sherman  wrote  to  the  Gov- 
ernor: 

"I  accepted  this  position  when  the  motto  of  the  seminary, 
inserted  in  marble  over  the  main  door,  was:  'By  the  Liberality 
of  the  General  Government  of  the  United  States:  The  Union 
— Esto  perpetua. '  If  Louisiana  withdraws  from  the  Fed- 
eral Union,  I  prefer  to  maintain  my  allegiance  to  the  old 
constitution  as  long  as  a  fragment  of  it  survives. 

"I  beg  you  to  take  immediate  steps  to  relieve  me  as  superin- 
tendent, the  moment  the  State  determines  to  secede.  For 
on  no  account  will  I  do  any  act,  or  think  any  thought,  hos- 
tile to,  or  in  defiance  of,  the  old  Government  of  the  United 
States." 

No  utterance  in  those  trying  days — days  that  developed 
the  hero  and  disclosed  the  traitor — had  a  truer  ring  than 
that. 

It  is  this  fire  of  ardent  patriotism,  based  on  honorable  pur- 
pose, and  a  love  of  truth  and  an  earnestness  of  conviction 
which  could  brook  no  indirectness,  no  mere  policy  in  con- 


8  INTRODUCTION 

duct,  which  sometimes,  and  for  a  brief  period,  brought  upon 
Sherman  the  aspersions  of  less  faithful  men  and  the  distrust- 
ful insinuations  of  those  who  were  timid  and  self-seeking. 
Sherman  did  not  grow  embittered  and  throw  up  his  com- 
mission, even  when  unjustly  treated  under  such  circum- 
stances. A  true  nobility  of  soul  lay  at  the  foundation  of  his 
character.  Sherman  was  not  only  a  great  general — he  was 
a  great  man.  C.  H.  HOWARD, 

Colonel  and  Brevet  Brigadier-General;    Inspector-General 
Army  of  Tennessee. 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

CHAPTER  I. 

HIS  ANCESTRY  AND  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCES  IN  EARLY  LIFE. 

In  the  wonderful  story  of  Ben-Hur  the  author  has  presented 
a  delightful  picture  of  the  road  through  which  it  is  possible  for 
some  to  be  led  up  to  great  attainments.  Every  incident  in  the 
life  of  Wallace's  hero  forms  an  important  factor  in  develop- 
ing force  of  mind,  heart  and  limb,  essential  to  the  great  work 
that  lay  before  him.  Readers  delighted  with  the  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  the  chariot  race  with  Ben-Hur  the  victor  cannot  pre- 
vent the  mind  recurring  to  his  terrible  life  in  the  galleys  and 
the  discipline  of  his  subsequent  career. 

This  peculiar  fitting  of  a  life  for  unexpected  duties,  this 
preparation  for  work  that  seems  distasteful  in  the  distance 
and  is  met  with  perfect  confidence,  is  as  much  a  part  of  the 
life  of  General  Sherman  as  was  that  life  part  and  parcel  of  the 
war  which  sustained  the  government  and  forever  determined 
the  question  of  national  authority.  No  one  can  trace  his 
ancestry,  his  experiences  as  a  youth  on  the  frontier,  longing 
for  an  education  with  a  yearning  that  led  him  to  endure  the 
formalities  and  red-tapism  of  West  Point,  without  under- 
standing something  of  the  laws  of  heredity  and  the  farce  of 
early  associations. 

General  William  Tecumseh  Sherman  was  born  in  Lancaster, 
Ohio,  February  8th,  1820.  He  came  of  a  family  in  which 

9 


10  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

culture  and  social  position  have   been  a    birthright   for  many 
generations.      In  1634   Samuel   Sherman,  of  Essex  County, 
England,  came  to  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  with  his  broth- 
er, the   Rev.  John   Sherman,    and   his   cousin,  Captain  John 
Sherman.      Roger   Sherman,  a   signer  of  the   Declaration   of 
Independence,  was  a  great-grandson  of  Captain  John   Sher- 
man; while  General  Sherman  traces  his  lineage  to  that  of  the 
Rev.  John  Sherman,  whose  family  settled  in   Woodbury  and 
Norwalk,  Conn.     The  grandfather  of  General   Sherman  and 
the  great-grandson  of  the  Rev.  John   Sherman  was    a  judge 
of  one  of  the  Connecticut  courts.      On   his  death  in   1810  his 
widow  removed  to   Lancaster,  Ohio,  in  search  of   a  cheaper 
living  and  better   chances   for  her  boys.      One  of  her  sons, 
Charles  R.  Sherman,  rose  in  the  practice  of  the  ^w  and  became 
in  1823  a  judge  of  the  Ohio  Supreme  Court.      He  married  in 
1810,    when   twenty-two   years  old,  Miss   Mary   Hoyt.      She 
was  an  intelligent,  exemplary  woman,  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  an  affectionate  wife  and  mother.      They 
had  eleven  children,  and  the  judge  spent  his  income  in  their 
support.      He   died    suddenly   in  1829,  of  cholera.      General 
Sherman  was  the  sixth  and  Senator  John  Sherman  the  eighth 
of  this  family  of  eleven  children.      When  General  Sherman 
was  born,  the  family  names  had  been  pretty  well  exhausted  in 
furnishing  forth  the  five  children  who  preceded  him,  and  there 
was  great  perplexity  in  seeking  a  name  at  once  suitable  and 
new  for  the  infant.     The  father  decided  it.      He  wanted  one 
son  trained  for  the  army;  he  had   seen  and  admired  Tecum- 
seh,  and  among  military  names  none  was   then  held  in  such 
special   esteem   about   Lancaster  as  that    of   this    mourned 
Shawnee  Indian  chieftain  (slain  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames, 
in  Canada,  in    1813)  whose   kindness   had  more   than  once, 
within  the  knowledge  of  the  pioneers  of  that  vicinity,  saved  the 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  1 1 

shedding  of  innocent  blood.  Up  to  the  death  of  his  father 
General  Sherman  led  the  pleasant  life  of  an  active,  bright- 
eyed,  red-haired,  play-loving,  warm-tempered  boy,  surrounded 
by  affectionate  brothers  and  sisters  and  watched  over  by  a 
good  mother. 

The  members  of  the  bar  at  Lancaster  knew  very  well  that 
Judge  Sherman  had  left  no  adequate  provision  for  his  large 
family,  and  it  was  agreed  among  them  that  some  of  the  chil- 
dren should  be  educated  and  supported  by  the  legal  brethren 
of  the  deceased  parent.  In  accordance  with  this  arrangement, 
Thomas  Ewing,  then  in  the  prime  of  his  reputation  as  a 
lawyer  and  statesman,  decided  to  adopt  one  of  the  boys.  "I 
must  have  the  smartest  of  them,"  he  is  reported  to  have  said 
to  the  widow,  and,  after  some  consultation  between  the 
mother  and  eldest  sister,  "Cump,"  who  was  at  play  in  a 
neighboring  sand-bank,  was  selected.  Young-  Sherman  soon 
made  his  way  to  the  hearts  of  all  the  Ewings.  He  was  sent 
to  the  English  department  of  the  village  academy,  where  he 
stood  well  in  his  classes,  and  came  to  be  called  a  promising 
boy.  "There  was  nothing  specially  remarkable  about  him," 
Mr.  Ewing  wrote  in  later  years,  "excepting  that  I  never  knew 
so  young  a  boy  who  would  do  an  errand  so  correctly  and 
promptly  as  he  did.  He  was  transparently  honest,  faithful 
and  reliable.  Studious. and  correct  in  his  habits,  his  progress 
in  education  was  steady  and  substantial." 

The  trait  thus  referred  to  was  one  which  was  apparent 
through  his  entire  career.  It  led  him  to  the  proper  courses 
when  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  found  him  at  the  head 
of  a  military  school  in  Louisiana.  It  made  him  the  success- 
ful subaltern  in  the  military  operations  prior  to  the  rebellion 
in  which  he  gained  a  knowledge  of  the  topography  of  South- 
ern states  which  was  never  lost,  but  made  for  his  constant  sue- 


12  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

cess.  It  was  an  indication  that  the  young  orphan  was  not  to 
be  thwarted  by  obstacles,  from  the  attainment  of  his  desires. 

He  saw  the  necessity  for  an  education.  In  those  days, 
schools  were  not  found  in  the  far  west  equipped  as  to-day, 
with  all  the  appliances  of  modern  science.  Through  the  influ- 
ence of  his  foster-father  he  was  enabled  to  enter  West  Point; 
but  his  correspondence  during  the  years  he  spent  tends  to  prove 
that  he  looked  forward  to  no  career  as  a  soldier.  He  hated 
the  discipline  and  routine  necessary  in  military  affairs. 

He  had  too  firm  a  confidence  in  his  own  ability  to  look  com- 
placently on  a  life  of  idleness  with  scarce  a  possibility  of  pre- 
ferment or  accomplishment  worthy  his  powers. 

The  story  of  his  journey  from  his  western  home  to  West 
Point  illustrates  the  wonderful  progress  made  within  the  life- 
time of  men  now  in  active  business.  Railroads  were  so  new 
that  the  young  man  was  warned  against  their  dangers,  and 
advised  to  stick  to  the  safe  old  stage-coaches  in  which  his 
father  and  grandfathers  had  ridden.  But  as  he  approached 
those  sections  of  the  country  where  the  iron-horse  had  dis- 
placed the  slower  conveyances,  young  Sherman  had  his  first 
experience  with  steam  navigation  by  water  and  travel  by 
land.  He  entered  the  Military  Academy  as  a  cadet  July  I, 
1836,  and  remained  at  West  Point  until  his  graduation  in  1 840, 
except  a  short  time  spent  during  one  vacation  at  Lancaster, 
Ohio.  Starting  with  a  good  preliminary  education,  he  main- 
tained a  fair,  though  not  first-class  standing  to  the  close.  It 
was  Mr.  Ewing's  wish  that  he  should  enter  the  Engineer 
Corps,  but  he  was  unable  to  do  this.  His  rank,  however, 
was  such  as  to  entitle  him  to  enter  the  artillery  service.  He 
was  sixth  in  his  class  of  forty-two.  Six  forms  below  him 
stood  George  H.  Thomas,  followed  by  R.  S.  Ewell,  and 
among  others  of  the  class  who  afterward  made  names  for 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  13 

themselves  were  Stewart  Van  Vliet,  Bushrod  R.  Johnson, 
George  W.  Getty,  William  Hays  and  Thomas  Jordan. 
Young  Sherman  had  already  formed  a  strong  attachment  for 
the  daughter  of  his  foster-father,  and  during  his  four  years  of 
cadet  life  he  wrote  to  Miss  Ellen  Ewing  a  series  of  sprightly 
and  vivacious  letters,  a  trifle  eccentric,  and  in  style  not  at  all 
unlike  those  graver  epistles  which,  at  a  later  period,  were  to 
draw  from  an  uncomplimentary  Secretary  of  War  the  com- 
pliment that  "Sherman  wrote  as  well  as  he  fought." 

During  the  four  years  of  his  stay  at  West  Point  the  future 
commander  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States  remained  a 
private.  He  seemed  to  abhor  the*  service  and  to  dislike  its 
restraints.  Nor  was  he  a  society  man,  which  may  possibly 
be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  his  mind  was  too  preoccu- 
pied with  thoughts  of  his  future  wife,  and  from  his  letters  to 
this  young  lady  may  be  gleaned  his  view  as  to  the  prospects 
before  him.  In  one  of  these  letters  he  wrote: 

"We  have  two  or  three  dancing  parties  each  week,  at 
which  the  gray  bobtail  is  a  sufficient  recommendation  for  an 
introduction  to  any  one.  You  can  well  conceive  how  the 
cadets  have  always  had  the  reputation,  and  have  still,  here 
in  the  East,  of  being  great  gallants  and  ladies'  men.  God 
only  knows  how  I  will  sustain  that  reputation."  About  a  year 
before  he  was  graduated,  he  wrote:  "Bill  is  very  much  elat- 
ed at  the  idea  of  getting  free  of  West  Point  next  June. 
He  does  not  intend  remaining  in  the  army  more  than  a  year, 
then  to  resign  and  study  law,  probably.  No  doubt  you  ad- 
mire this  choice;  but  to  speak  plainly  and  candidly,  I  would 
rather  be  a  blacksmith.  Indeed,  the  nearer  we  come  to  that 
dreadful  epoch,  graduation  day,  the  higher  opinion  I  conceive 
of  the  duties  and  life  of  an  officer  of  the  United  States  Army, 
and  the  more  confirmed  in  the  wish  of  spending  my  life  in 


14  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

the  service  of  my  country.  Think  of  that!"  Nurtured  in 
the  Presbyterian  teachings  of  his  mother  until  his  tenth  year, 
then  kept  under  the  influences  of  Mr.  Ewing's  Roman  Catho- 
lic family,  he  had  grown,  after  such  changes,  a  little  restive 
under  protracted  religious  exercises.  "The  church  bugle," 
he  wrote  in  one  of  his  letters,  "has  just  blown,  and  in  a  moment 
I  must  put  on  my  side-arms  and  march  to  church,  to  listen  to 
a  two-hours  sermon,  with  its  twenty  divisions  and  twenty-one 
sub-divisions;  .  .  .  but  I  believe  it  is  a  general  fact  that  what 
people  are  compelled  to  do  they  dislike." 

Then,  as  later  in  life,  practical  matters  and  details 
were  especially  to  his  taste.  "The  last  encampment,"  he 
wrote,  "taken  all  in  all,  I  think  was  the  most  pleasant 
one  I  have  ever  spent,  even  to  me,  who  did  not  par- 
ticipate in  the  dances  and  balls  given  every  week  by 
the  different  classes;  besides,  the  duties  were  of  alto- 
gether a  different  nature  from  any  previous  ones,  such 
as  acting  as  officers  upon  guard  and  at  artillery  drills,  prac- 
ticing at  target-firing  with  long  twenty-fours  and  thirty-twos, 
mortars,  howitzers,  etc.,  as  also  cavalry  exercise,  which  has 
been  introduced  this  year."  He  was  not  slow  in  taking  to 
the  knack  of  command.  "As  to  lording  it  over  the  plebs,  to 
which  you  referred,  I  had  only  one,  whom  I  made,  of  course, 
'tend  to  a  pleb's  duty,  such  as  bringing  water,  policing  the  tent, 
cleaning  my  gun  and  accouterments,  and  the  like,  and  repaid 
in  the  usual  and  cheap  coin — advice;  and  since  we  have  com- 
menced studying,  I  make  him  'bone, '  and  explain  to  him  the 
difficult  parts  of  algebra  and  the  French  grammar,  since  he  is  a 
good  one  and  a  fine  fellow;  but  should  he  not  carry  himself 
straight,  I  should  have  him  'found'  in  January  and  sent  off, 
that  being  the  usual  way  in  such  cases,  and  then  take  his  bed, 
table  and  chair,  to  pay  for  the  Christmas  spree." 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  15 

In  another  epistle  he  showed  one  of  the  traits  that  was  des- 
tined to  serve  him  well  in  after  life.  His  foster-father  was  a 
prominent  leader  of  the  Whig  party,  and  in  a  letter  to  his 
daughter  the  young  cadet  betrayed  more  liking  for  politics 
than  in  after  years,  but  at  the  same  time  that  independence 
of  character  which  distinguished  him  through  life.  He  wrote: 
"You,  no  doubt,  are  not  only  firmly  impressed,  but  absolutely 
certain,  that  General  Harrison  will  be  our  next  President, 
For  my  part,  though,  of  course,  but  a  'superficial  observer, 
I  do  not  think  there  is  the  least  hope  of  such  a  change,  since 
his  friends  have  thought  proper  to  envelop  his  name  with 
log-cabins,  ginger-bread,  hard-cider,  and  such  humbugging, 
the  sole  object  of  which  plainly  is  to  deceive  and  mislead 
his  ignorant  and  prejudiced,  though  honest,  fellow-citizens; 
whilst  his  qualifications,  his  honesty,  his  merits  and  services 
are  merely  alluded  to!"  Here  are  two  more  extracts  from 
his  last  West  Point  letters  to  Miss  Ewing:  "I  presume  you 
have  seen  the  register  of  cadets  for  the  last  year,  and  re- 
marked that  I  still  maintain  a  good  standing  in  my  class,  and 
if  it  were  not  for  that  column  of  demerits  it  would  be  still 
better,  for  they  are  combined  with  proficiency  in  study  to 
make  out  the  standing  in  general  merit.  In  fact,  this  year,  as 
well  as  the  last,  in  studies  alone,  I  have  been  among  the 
stars"--  meaning  among  the  first  five  in  the  class.  "I  fear  I 
have  a  difficult  part  to  act  for  the  next  three  years,"  he  wrote, 
as  graduation  day  approached,  "because  I  am  almost  confi- 
dent that  your  father's  wishes  and  intentions  will  clash  with 
my  inclinations.  In  the  first  place,  I  think  he  wishes  me  to 
strive  and  graduate  in  the  Engineer  Corps.  This  I  can't 
do.  Next  to  resign  and  become  a  civil  engineer.  .  .  .  Whilst 
I  propose  and  intend  to  join  the  infantry,  be  stationed  in  the 
Far  West,  out  of  the  reach  of  what  is  termed  civilization,  and 
there  remain  as  long  as  possible," 


1 6  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

There  are  those  who  assert  that  Sherman's  career  at  West 
Point  gave  little  promise  for  achievements.  These  are  critics 
who  loudly  proclaim  that  the  brilliant  mathematician,  the 
parrot-like  student  of  musty  ancient  history,  the  mere  mem- 
orizer  of  the  class,  is  to  astound  the  world  by  his  prominence 
in  whatever  calling  he  may  choose.  Let  such  prophets  ex- 
amine the  lists  of  every  institution  of  learning  in  the  land  and 
they  will  find  proof  of  their  lack  of  foresight.  It  is  not  the 
parrot  who  masters  his  fellows  outside  the  recitation-room, 
however  much  he  may  gain  the  good-will  of  his  teacher. 
William  Tecumseh  Sherman  went  to  West  Point  for  a  pur- 
pose, and  he  gained  it  in  the  education  which  fitted  him  for 
the  posts  he  was  afterwards  called  upon  to  fill. 

That  his  education  had  been  of  benefit,  and  that  he  pos- 
sessed in  his  youth  marked  qualities,  is  seen  from  his  career 
immediately  after  his  graduation. 

The  orphan  boy  had  gone  to  West  Point  with  a  well-defined 
object.  He  believed  in  the  power  of  knowledge,  and  recog- 
nized the  impossibility  of  acquiring  a  good  education  in  the 
West  or  of  entering  eastern  colleges  in  his  poverty.  The  edu- 
cation he  was  determined  to  secure.  It  came  as  the  free  gift 
of  his  country,  and  most  nobly  has  the  obligation  been  hon- 
ored. 

Sherman  graduated  fifth  in  his  class,  and  among  his  class- 
mates was  General  Beauregard.  The  fifth  at  West  Point  be- 
came the  first  in  gallant  service  to  his  country. 


CHAPTER  II. 

IN  THE  SOUTH — EARLY  TRAINING  WHICH  WAS  OF  SUBSEQUENT 

VALUE — THE  LIEUTENANT  LAYS  FOUNDATION 

FOR  THE  GENERAL'S  SUCCESS. 

In  1840,  Sherman  was  commissioned  a  second  lieutenant 
in  the  Third  regiment  of  artillery,  and  sent  to  Florida  with  a 
company  of  recruits.  General  Zachary  Taylor  was  in  com- 
mand there.  The  worst  of  the  Seminole  war  was  over;  but 
there  were  still  many  savages  lurking  in  the  Everglades,  and 
the  business  of  the  troops  was  to  hunt  them  out,  capture  them, 
and  remove  them  to  the  Indian  Territory.  It  was  rough 
work  for  the  young  lieutenant;  but  he  enjoyed  the  wild  life 
of  the  forest,  the  bayous,  and  the  swamps.  The  habit  of 
independent  judgment  which  characterized  his  opinions  and 
operations  during  the  civil  war,  showed  itself  thus  early.  He 
thought  the  policy  of  the  Government  toward  the  Seminoles 
a  mistake.  The  Indian  Territory  he  believed  to  be  much 
better  fitted  for  the  abode  of  white  people  than  Florida.  The 
latter  was  an  Indian  paradise,  abounding  in  game  and  fish, 
but  of  small  account  for  white  settlement.  The  Seminoles, 
Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  Cherokees,  and  Creeks  should  have 
been  concentrated  in  Florida,  where  they  would  have 
been  surrounded  by  the  sea  on  all  sides  but  one,  and  could 
have  easily  been  protected  against  encroachment,  and  the 
vast  agricultural  plains  west  of  Arkansas  should  have  been 
left  open  to  civilization.  This  was  his  idea  then,  and  he  has 
never  changed  it. 

From  Florida,  after  two  winter  campaigns,  Lieutenant 
*  17 


1 8  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Sherman  was  transferred  to  Fort  Moultrie,  near  Charleston, 
South  Carolina.  There  he  remained  four  years,  fretting,  no 
doubt,  at  the  uneventful  life  of  the  garrison,  but  finding 
diversion  in  hunting  all  through  the  lowland  counties  of  the 
State,  and  in  the  aristocratic  society  of  the  then  rich  and 
proud  little  city  close  at  hand  across  the  bay  from  the  fort,  to 
which  his  uniform  was  a  passport.  Charleston  then  exer- 
cised an  intellectual  and  political  leadership  throughout 
the  South  out  of  all  proportion  to  her  population,  and  Sher- 
man was  able  to  gain  an  insight  into  the  Southern  character 
which  was  of  great  service  to  him  when  he  came  to  march 
armies  through  the  Southern  States.  What  was  of  even 
greater  importance,  he  learned,  and  never  afterward  forgot, 
the  topography  of  the  country. 

It  is  remarkable  to  what  an  extent  Sherman's  early 
career  gave  him  special  fitness  for  the  great  part  he 
played  during  the  rebellion.  A  single  incident  will  illus- 
trate in  what  manner  he  studied  every  step  of  his  marches 
in  line  of  duty,  and  treasured  for  future  use  even  his  sports 
and  recreation.  When  he  fought  his  way  to  Atlanta  in  1864, 
driving  the  enemy  mile  by  mile,  he  remembered  all  the  feat- 
ures of  the  country,  the  course  of  the  streams,  the  rocky 
gorges,  and  what  positions  would  be  favorable  for  defense. 
Ordering  General  McPherson  to  charge  the  Confederates  on 
Kenesaw  Mountafn,  he  said:  "About  half-way  up  the  mountain 
you  will  find  a  plateau  where  there  is  a  peach  orchard;  it  will 
be  a  good  place  to  stop  and  let  your  men  get  breath  for  the 
assault."  He  had  visited  the  orchard  in  1834,  and  remem- 
bered, twenty-one  years  later,  that  the  owner  had  told  him 
that  it  was  planted  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountain  so  that 
the  buds  would  not  develop  soon  enough  to  be  killed  by  the 
spring  frosts.  Of  his  life  at  Fort  Pierce,  in  Florida,  he  wrote, 
April  loth,  1841: 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  19 

"Now  that  we  are  at  peace,  and  our  minds  withdrawn  from 
those  pleasant  excursions  and  expeditions  in  which  we  have 
been  engaged  for  the  past  four  months,  we  are  thrown  upon 
our  ingenuity  to  devise  means  of  spending  the  time.  Books 
we  have  few,  but  it  is  no  use;  you  cannot  read  any  but  the 
lightest  trash;  and  even  the  newspapers,  which  you  would 
suppose  we  would  devour,  require  a  greater  effort  of  mind  to 
search  than  we  possess.  We  attribute  it  to  the  climate,  and 
bring  up  these  .native  lazy  Minorcans  as  examples,  and  are 
satisfied.  Yet,  of  course,  we  must  do  something,  however 
little.  Well,  in  this,  each  pursues  his  own  fancy.  The  major 
and  I  have  a  parcel  of  chickens,  in  which  we  -have,  by  com- 
petition, taken  enough  interest  to  take  up  a  few  minutes  of 
the  day;  besides,  I  have  a  little  fawn  to  play  with,  and 
crows,  a  crane,  etc. ;  and  if  you  were  to  enter  my  room  you 
would  hesitate  whether  it  was  the  abode  of  man  or  beasts. 
In  one  corner  is  a  hen,  sitting;  in  another,  some  crows, 
roosted  on  bushes;  the  other  is  a  little  bed  of  bushes  for  the 
little  fawn;  whilst  in  the  fourth  is  my  bucket,  wash-basin, 
glass,  etc.  So  you  see  it  is  three  to  one." 

In  a  subsequent  letter  he  touches  the  same  vein: 

"I've  got  more  pets  now  than  any  bachelor  in  the  country 

—innumerable  chickens,  tame  pigeons,  white   rabbits,  and  a 

full-blooded  Indian  pony — rather  small  matters  for  a  man  to 

deal  with,  you  doubtless  think,  but  it    is  far  better  to  spend 

time  in  trifles  such  as  these  than  in  drinking  or  gambling." 

His  desire  for  the  freedom  of  frontier  life  is  thus  again  shown: 

"We  hear  that  the  new  Secretary  of  War  intends  proposing 

to  the   next   Congress  to   raise   two    rifle   regiments   for  the 

western  service.      As  you  are  at  Washington,    I  presume  you 

can  learn   whether  it  is  so  or  not,  for  I  should  like    to  go  in 

such  a  regiment,  if  stationed  in  the  Far  West;  not  that  I  am 

the  least   displeased  with  my  present   berth,  but   when  the 


2O  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

regiment  goes  North,  it  will,  in   all   likelihood,  be   stationed 
in  the  vicinity  of  some  city,  from   which    God  spare  me." 

His  indignation  at  anything  not  perfectly  straightforward, 
shows  itself  in  an  energetic  remonstrance  to  a  friend: 

"If  you  have  any  regard  for  my  feelings,  don't  say  the  word 
'insinuation'  again.  You  may  abuse  me  as  much  as  you 
please,  but  I'd  prefer,  of  the  two,  to  be  accused  of  telling  a 
direct  falsehood  than  stating  anything  evasively  or  under- 
hand; and  if  I  "have  ever  been  guilty  of  such  a  thing  it  was 
unintentionally. " 

Early  in  March,  1842,  Sherman  and  his  company  were  sta- 
tioned at  Fort  Morgan,  on  Mobile  Point,  and  about  twenty 
miles  from  the  city  of  Mobile.  He  was  engaged  in  a  monot- 
onous round  of  garrison  duty,  mingled  with  hunting,  occa- 
sional visits  to  the  city,  until,  in  the  following  June  (1843),  he 
was  removed  to  Fort  Moultrie,  in  Charleston  harbor.  Here 
he  found  a  life  entirely  new,  and  made  many  friends  among 
the  citizens  who  had  residences  on  Sullivan's  Island,  where 
they  escaped  the  heat  of  a  southern  summer.  In  the  fall  of 
this  year  he  secured  a  four  months'  leave  of  absence  and  vis- 
ited his  old  home  at  Lancaster,  Ohio,  and  while  there  plighted 
his  troth  with  Miss  Ellen  Ewing,  the  daughter  of  his  foster- 
father,  and  the  love  of  his  early  days.  At  the  expiration  of 
his  leave  he  returned  to  his  post,  making  a  winter  journey 
down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  by  Mobile 
and  Savannah. 

During  February,  March  and  April,  1844,  he  served  with 
Colonel  Sylvester  Churchill  on  a  board  appointed  to  investi- 
gate a  large  number  of  claims  for  lost  horses.  The  report 
gave  satisfaction  to  the  Government,  and  it  is  said  to  have 
saved  large  sums.  After  the  adjournment  of  the  board  the 
young  officer  turned  his  attention  to  legal  studies,  not  because 
he  had  any  desire  to  practice  the  profession,  but  because  he 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  21 

deemed  it  fitting  that  every  officer   should  be  so  well  versed 
in  law  as  to  be  of   proper  service  to  the  Government  under 
such  occasions  as  his  first  experience  on  a  board  of  examina 
tion.      Writing  under   date  of  June    I2th,    1844,  from  Fort 
Moultrie,  he  says: 

"Since  my  return,  I  have  not  been  running  about  in  the  city 
or  the  island,  as  heretofore,  but  have  endeavored  to  interest 
myself  in  Blackstone,  which,  with  the  assistance  of  Bouvier's 
Dictionary,  I  find  no  difficulty  in  understanding.  I  have 
read  all  four  volumes,  Starkie  on  Evidence,  and  other  books, 
semi-legal  and  semi-historical,  and  would  be  obliged  to  you 
if  you  would  give  me  a  list  of  such  books  as  you  were  re- 
quired to  read,  not  including  your  local  or  State  law.  I  intend 
to  read  the  second  and  third  volumes  of  Blackstone  again, 
also  Kent's  Commentaries,  which  seem,  as  far  as  I  am  capa- 
ble of  judging,  to  be  the  basis  of  the  common-law  practice. 
This  course  of  study  I  have  adopted,  from  feeling  the  want  of 
it  in  the  duties  to  which  I  was  lately  assigned." 

And  again,  on  the  2Oth  of  October: 

"I  have  no  idea  of  making  the  law  a  profession — by  no 
means;  but,  as  an  officer  of  the  army,  it  is  my  duty  and  inter- 
est to  be  prepared  for  any  situation  that  fortune  or  luck  may 
offer.  It  is  for  this  alone  that  I  prepare,  and  not  for  profes- 
sional practice." 

Early  in  1845,  ne  visited  his  home,  to  recover  from  the 
effects  of  illness.  After  his  return  South,  he  was  stationed 
on  detached  service  at  the  arsenal  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  and 
was  detailed  as  a  member  of  a  general  court-martial  sitting 
at  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  where  he  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  his  old  comrades  of  Company  A,  Third  Artillery. 


CHAPTER  III. 

SERVICES    IN  THE    MEXICAN    WAR — MARRIAGE   AT   WASHINGTON, 
AND  HONORABLE  ACTION  AT  NEW  ORLEANS. 

When  dispute  arose  regarding  the  boundaries  of  Mexico 
the  Government  saw  the  necessity  of  having  troops  in  Cali- 
fornia. No  railroad  spanned  the  continent,  and  the  way 
across  the  plains  was  fraught  with  great  hardships  and  dan- 
ger. The  gallant  Kearny  went  overland,  and  to  join  him 
Lieutenant  Sherman  was  ordered  to  set  sail  with  his  com- 
pany. He  had  been  assigned  to  duty  at  Pittsburgh,  but  con- 
stantly urged  the  authorities  to  give  him  opportunity  for 
active  service.  He  received  his  first  intimation  of  the  order 
under  which  he  was  to  sail  on  the  28th  of  June,  and  on  the 
3Oth  set  sail,  without  having  opportunity  of  bidding  his  family 
good-bye.  The  company  sailed  from  New  York  in  July,  in 
the  ship  Lexington,  and,  after  a  tedious  voyage,  touching  at 
Rio  de  Janiero  and  Valparaiso,  landed  at  San  Francisco. 
Contrary  to  the  anticipations  of  actual  service  entertained 
at  the  outset,  the  career  of  the  company  in  California  proved 
uneventful.  During  his  service  there,  Lieutenant  Sherman 
was  detailed  as  acting  assistant  adjutant-general  of  the  forces 
in  the  Tenth  Military  Department,  under  the  command  of 
Brigadier-General  Stephen  W.  Kearny,  afterwards  under 
that  of  Colonel  Richard  B.  Mason,  First  Dragoons;  and  in 
this  capacity  attracted  the  notice  of  his  brother  officers  by  the 
efficiency,  clearness,  and  administrative  ability  he  showed  in 
the  discharge  of  the  responsible  duties  confided  to  him.  In 
1850  he  returned  to  the  Atlantic  States,  and  on  the  ist  of 

22 


LIFE   OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  23 

May,  in  the  same  year,  was  married  to  Miss  Ellen  Ewing, 
at  the  residence,  in  Washington  City,  of  her  father,  then 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  under  President  Taylor.  The  house 
in  which  the  wedding  took  place  is  still  standing  on  Pennsyl- 
vania avenue — a  very  plain  building  now,  but  a  fine  mansion 
in  those  days.  There  were  famous  guests  at  the  wedding — 
Clay,  Webster,  and  Benton,  and  President  Zachary  Taylor 
with  all  his  cabinet — and  it  was  a  brilliant  affair,  with  music, 
dancing,  and  feasting,  and  was  followed  by  a  bridal  tour  to 
Niagara  Falls.  In  the  following  September  he  received  what 
was,  in  those  days,  considered  one  of  the  highest  prizes  the 
military  profession  had  in  store  for  the  subaltern,  being  ap- 
pointed a  commissary  of  subsistence  with  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain. He  was  assigned  to  duty  upon  the  staff  of  the  com- 
manding officer  of  the  military  department  of  the  West,  at  St. 
Louis.  In  March,  1852,  he  received  from  the  President,  by 
and  with  the  advice  of  the  Senate,  a  commission  as  captain, 
by  brevet,  to  date  from  May  30,  1848,  "for  meritorious  serv- 
ices in  California  during  the  war  in  Mexico." 

In  his  memoirs  General  Sherman  writes  amusingly  of  his 
successful  attempt  to  enter  the  United  States  Senate  on  the 
occasion  of  Webster's  last  speech.  He  had  jokingly  told 
friends  who  sought  his  acceptance  of  political  favors  that  he 
never  tried  to  enter  a  legislative  body  but  once,  and  that, 
though  successful,  he  was  then  so  disappointed  that  he  would 
never  tr>  it  again.  The  General  writes: 

"I  heard  Mr.  Webster's  speech  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate, 
under  circumstances  that  warrant  a  description.  It  was  pub- 
licly known  that  he  was  to  leave  the  Senate,  and  enter  the 
new  cabinet  of  Mr.  Fillmore,  as  his  Secretary  of  State,  and 
that  prior  to  leaving  he  was  to  make  a  great  speech  on  the 
'Omnibus  Bill.'  Resolved  to  hear  it,  I  went  up  to  the 
Capitol  on  the  day  named,  an  hour  or  so  earlier  than  usual. 


24  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

The  speech  was  to  be  delivered  in  the  old  Senate-chamber, 
now  used  by  the  Supreme  Court.  The  galleries  were  much 
smaller  than  at  present,  and  I  found  them  full  to  overflowing, 
with  a  dense  crowd  about  the  door,  struggling  to  reach  the 
stairs.  I  could  not  get  near,  and  then  tried  the  reporter's 
gallery,  but  found  it  equally  crowded;  so  I  feared  I  should 
lose  the  only  possible  opportunity  to  hear  Mr.  Webster. 

"I  had  only  a  limited  personal  acquaintance  with  any  of  the 
Senators,  but  had  met  Mr.  Corwin  quite  often  at  Mr.  Ewing's 
house,  and  I  also  knew  that  he  had  been  extremely  friendly 
to  my  father  in  his  life-time;  so  I  ventured  to  send  in  to  him 
my  card,  'W.  T.  S.,  First-Lieutenant,  Third  Artillery. '  He 
came  to  the  door  promptly,  when  I  said,  'Mr.  Corwin, 
I  believe  Mr.  Webster  is  to  speak  to-day. '  His  answer  was, 
'Yes,  he  has  the  floor  at  one  o'clock.'  I  then  added  that  I 
was  extremely  anxious  to  hear  him.  'Well, '  said  he,  'why 
don't  you  go  into  the  gallery?'  I  explained  that  it  was  full, 
and  I  had  tried  every  access,  but  found  all  jammed  with  peo- 
ple. 'Well,'  said  he,  'what  do  you  want  of  me?'  I  ex- 
plained that  I  would  like  him  to  take  me  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate;  that  I  had  often  seen  from  the  gallery  persons  on 
the  floor,  no  better  entitled  to  it  than  I.  He  then  asked  in 
his  quizzical  way,  'Are  you  a  foreign  embassador?'  'No.' 
'  Are  you  the  Governor  of  a  State  ? '  '  No. '  '  Are  you  a  member 
of  the  other  House?'  'Certainly  not.'  'Have  you  ever 
had  a  vote  of  thanks  by  name?'  'No.'  'Well,  these  are 
the  only  privileged  members. '  I  then  told  him  that  he  knew 
well  enough  who  I  was,  and  that  if  he  chose  he  could  take 
me  in.  He  then  said,  'Have  you  any  impudence?'  I  told 
him,  'A  reasonable  amount  if  occasion  called  for  it. '  'Do 
you  think  you  could  become  so  interested  in  my  conversation 
as  not  to  notice  the  door-keeper?'  (pointing  to  him).  I 
told  him  that  there  was  not  the  least  doubt  of  it,  if  he  would 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  2  5 

tell  me  one  of  his  funny  stories.  He  then  took  my  arm 
and  led  me  a  turn  in  the  vestibule,  talking  about  some  indif- 
ferent matter,  but  all  the  time  directing  my  looks  to  his  left 
hand,  toward  which  he  was  gesticulating  with  his  right;  and 
thus  we  approached  the  door-keeper,  who  began  asking  me, 
*  Foreign  embassador?  Governor  of  a  State?  Member  of 
Congress?'  etc.;  but  I  caught  Corwin's  eye,  which  said 
plainly,  *  Don't  mind  him,  pay  attention  to  me,'  and  in  this 
way  we  entered  the  Senate-chamber  by  a  side-door.  Once 
in,  Corwin  said,  'Now  you  can  take  care  of  yourself,'  and  I 
thanked  him  cordially.  I  found  a  seat  close  behind  Mr.  Web- 
ster, and  near  General  Scott,  and  heard  the  whole  of  the 
speech.  It  was  heavy  in  the  extreme,  and  I  confess  that  I  was 
disappointed  and  tired  long  before  it  was  finished.  No  doubt 
the  speech  was  full  of  fact  and  argument,  but  it  had  none  of  the 
fire  of  oratory,  or  intensity  of  feeling,  that  marked  all  of  Mr. 
Clay's  efforts." 

Until  the  6th  of  September,  1853,  Captain  Sherman  re- 
mained in  the  Government  service.  During  these  years  he 
was  sent  to  New  Orleans  to  take  charge  of  the  commissary 
department,  it  having  been  asserted,  and  probably  proved, 
that  certain  merchants  of  that  city  were  making  undue  profits 
by  means  of  collusion  with  army  officers.  That  speculators  in 
Government  contracts  found  small  favor  with  Captain  Sher- 
man may  well  be  surmised.  His  own  account  of  the  affair 
is  brief,  but  displays  a  disposition  to  avoid  even  an  appear- 
ance of  evil  that  would  become  every  official  so  placed.  In 
his  memoirs  the  General  writes  of  this: 

"One  day,  as  General  Twiggs  was  coming  across  Lake 
Pontchartrain,  he  fell  in  with  one  of  his  old  cronies,  who  was 
an  extensive  grocer.  This  gentleman  gradually  led  the  con- 
versation to  the  downward  tendency  of  the  times  since  he 
and  Twiggs  were  young,  saying  that,  in  former  years,  all  the 


26  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

merchants  of  New  Orleans  had  a  chance  at  government  pat- 
ronage; but  now,  in  order  to  sell  to  the  army  commissary,  one 
had  to  take  a  brother  in  as  a  partner.  General  Twiggs  re- 
sented this,  but  the  merchant  again  affirmed  it,  and  gave 
names.  As  soon  as  General  Twiggs  reached  his  office,  he  in- 
structed his  adjutant-general,  Colonel  Bliss — who  told  me 
this — to  address  a  categorical  note  of  inquiry  to  Major  Wag- 
gaman.  The  .major  very  frankly  stated  the  facts  as  they 
had  arisen,  and  insisted  that  the  firm  of  Perry  Seawell  &  Co. 
had  enjoyed  a  large  patronage,  but  deserved  it  richly  by  rea- 
son cf  their  promptness,  fairness,  and  fidelity.  The  corre- 
spondence was  sent  to  Washington,  and  the  result  was,  that 
Major  Waggaman  was  ordered  to  St.  Louis,  and  I  was  or- 
dered to  New  Orleans. 

"I  went  down  to  New  Orleans  in  a  steamboat  in  the  month 
of  September,  1852,  taking  with  me  a  clerk,  and,  on  arrival, 
assumed  the  office,  in  a  bank-building  facing  Lafayette 
Square,  in  which  were  the  offices  of  all  the  army  depart- 
ments. General  D.  Twiggs  was  in  command  of  the  depart- 
ment, with  Colonel  W.  W.  S.  Bliss  (son-in-law  of  General 
Taylor)  as  his  adjutant-general.  Colonel  A.  C.  Myers  was 
quartermaster,  Captain  John  F.  Reynolds  aide-de-camp,  and 
Colonel  A.  J.  Coffee  paymaster.  I  took  rooms  at  the  St. 
Louis  Hotel,  kept  by  a  most  excellent  gentleman,  Colonel 
Mudge. 

"Mr.  Perry  Seawell  came  to  me  in  person,  soliciting  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  custom  which  he  had  theretofore  enjoyed;  but  I 
told  him  frankly  that  a  change  was  necessary,  and  I  never 
saw  or  heard  of  him  afterward.  I  simply  purchased  in  open 
marke.t,  arranged  for  the  proper  packing  of  the  stores,  and 
had  not  the  least  difficulty  in  supplying  the  troops  and  satis- 
fying the  head  of  the  department  .in  Washington." 

This  happened  in  1852,  and  in   December  of  that  year  the 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  27 

young  captain  was  informed  that  his  family  consisting  of  his 
wife,  two  children  and  nurse,  and  his  sister  Fanny,  were  en 
route  for  New  Orleans,  and  he  accordingly  secured  a  house  and 
furnished  it.  But  very  soon  after  their  arrival  he  received  a 
parcel  of  documents  which  proved  to  be  articles  of  copartner- 
ship for  the  firm  of  "Lucas,  Turner  &  Co.,"  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  bank  in  California,  with  his  own  name  as  a  partner. 
This  was  done  at  the  instance  of  Major  Turner,  then  a 
wealthy  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  who  had  conceived  a  strong  lik- 
ing for  Sherman.  There  were  strong  reasons  why  the  offer 
should  be  accepted.  In  the  first  place,  it  had  never  been  the 
desire  of  Sherman  to  continue  in  the  army,  and  he  would 
doubtless  have  resigned  earlier  if  other  occupation  had  opened 
to  him.  But  it  was  not  a  step  to  be  decided  without  a  full 
understanding  of  the  situation,  and  when  that  decision  was 
made,  action  was  prompt.  Late  in  February,  after  less  than 
two  months  in  New  Orleans,  the  family  were  sent  up  the 
Ohio  in  a  steamboat;  the  New  Orleans  household  effects 
disposed  of;  the  property  and  records  of  the  office  turned 
over  to  his  successor,  and  Sherman  started  on  his  way  to  Cali- 
fornia on  a  six  months'  leave  of  absence  to  look  over  the 
ground,  and,  as  it  happened,  to  enter  upon  his  first  com- 
mercial venture. 

The  result  of  his  journey  was  to  fix  his  determination  to 
leave  the  army,  and  he  returned  to  Ohio  for  consultation 
with  his  wife  and  her  father.  Matters  were  soon  arranged  and 
Captain  Sherman's  resignation  was  tendered  to  the  Govern- 
ment, to  take  effect  at  the  end  of  his  six  month's  leave.  It 
was  accepted  September  6th,  1853,  and  Sherman  was  a  pri- 
vate citizen. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EXPERIENCES  IN  CIVIL  LIFE — PARTNER  IN  A  BANKING-HOUSE  AT 
SAN  FRANCISCO,    HE    WEATHERS    A  FINANCIAL  STORM  WITH 

THE    SKILL    OF    A    VETERAN RETURNS    TO  NEW   YORK 

AND  SOON  BECOMES  HEAD  OF  A  MILITARY  SCHOOL — 
PROMPT    RESPONSE    TO    A    REQUEST    FOR    HIS 
VIEWS  ON  THE  QUESTION  OF  SECESSION — 
RESIGNS  HIS  POSITION  AT  THE  OUT- 
BREAK OF  THE  REBELLION. 

It  seemed  a  hazardous  undertaking  for  one  so  young,  and 
the  difficulty  would  have  deterred  older  heads.  But  Sher- 
man had  confidence  in  himself,  and  felt  that  business  affairs,  if 
conducted  with  honor  and  prudence,  must  reward  earnest 
efforts  with  success.  During  his  career  at  San  Francisco 
Mr.  Sherman  was  forced  to  cope  with  some  of  the  oldest  and 
best  equipped  bankers  and  fherchants.  In  every  emergency 
he  extorted  the  admiration  even  of  those  with  whom  he  was 
forced  to  disagree,  and  to  whom  he  refused  bank  favors  at 
times  too  critical  to  allow  sober  judgment  by  men  who 
thought  they  saw  their  fortunes  threatened  by  one  so  much 
their  junior. 

His  partners  reposed  full  confidence  in  him,  and  he  alone 
carried  his  bank  through  the  financial  panic  that  ensued  upon 
the  failure  and  flight  of  Meigs,  the  great  contractor  and  after- 
wards wealthy  resident  of  Chili.  The  bank  was  more  than 
usually  prosperous  until  changed  conditions  and  the  fear  that 
his  asthma,  which  was  now  depriving  him  of  sleep,  would  be- 
come chronic,  induced  Sherman  to  inform  his  partner,  Mr. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  2Q 

Lucas,  that  he  could  use  their  money  to  greater  profit  in  St. 
Louis,  and  the  affairs  of  the  bank  were  closed  on  the  ist  of 
May,  1857,  and  Mr.  Sherman  returned  to  St.  Louis. 

On  his  return  east  Mr.  Lucas  arranged  for  opening  a  branch 
of  his  St.  Louis  bank  in  New  York,  and  installed  Mr.  Sher- 
man as  its  resident  manager.  But  shortly  after  its  opening 
for  business  the  panic  of  1857  burst  upon  the  country,  and 
Lucas  &  Co.,  of  St.  Louis,  failed,  carrying  with  it  all  its 
branches.  Of  this  fact  Sherman  writes  in  his  memoirs: 

"  I  was  of  course  surprised,  but  not  sorry,  for  I  had  always 
contended  that  a  man  of  so  much  visible  wealth  as  Mr. 
Lucas  should  not  be  engaged  in  a  business  subject  to  such 
vicissitudes." 

Mr.  Sherman  returned  to  St.  Louis  October  I7th,  and  re- 
mained there  till  the  7th  of  the  following  December,  assisting 
in  settling  the  affairs  of  the  suspended  bank  of  Lucas  &  Co. 
He  then  was  sent  to  San  Francisco  to  settle  finally  the  busi- 
ness of  the  house  in  that  city,  and  within  six  months  had 
completed  his  task,  paying  every  cent  owed  by  the  firm,  and 
collecting  a  large  portion  of  debts  due. 

Returning  to  Ohio  in  the  summer  of  1858,  he  was  for  a  time 
out  of  employment  and  undetermined  as  to  his  future.  For 
some  time  he  practiced  law,  tried  his  hand  at  farming,  and 
finally  wrote  to  the  assistant  adjutant-general  on  duty  at  the 
War  Department,  asking  if  there  was  a  vacancy  among  the 
army  paymasters,  receiving  in  reply  a  printed  programme  for 
a  military  college  about  to  be  established,  organized  in  Louisi- 
ana, and  advice  to  apply  for  the  position  of  superintendent. 
The  reasons  for  establishing  this  school  were  probably  not 
understood  at  the  time  by  the  applicant  for  the  position  of 
superintendent.  That  they  had  reference  to  the  coming  trouble 
is  generally  understood. 

The  pro-slavery  leaders  were  well  aware  that  the  attempted 


30  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

overthrow  of  the  National  Government  would  be  likely  to  be 
resisted  by  force.  They  made  ready  to  carry  out  their  plans 
by  force.  The  wiser  heads  among  them  hoped  to  be  allowed 
to  secede  in  peace,  but  they  were  as  determined  as  the  rest 
to  appeal  to  war  in  the  last  resort.  Accordingly,  during  Mr. 
Buchanan's  administration,  there  was  set  on  foot  throughout 
the  slave-holding  States  a  movement  embodying  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  militia,  the  establishment  of  State  military 
academies,  and  the  collection  of  warlike  materials  of  all 
kinds.  The  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Floyd,  in  the  interests  of 
the  conspirators,  aided  them  by  sending  to  the  arsenals  in  the 
slave  States  quantities  of  arms  and  military  supplies;  the 
quotas  of  the  Southern  States  under  the  militia  laws  were 
anticipated,  in  some  cases,  by  several  years;  and  he  caused 
sales  of  arms  to  be  secretly  made,  at  low  prices,  to  the  agents 
of  those  States.  The  pro-slavery  leaders  then  began  to  select 
and  gather  round  them  men  whom  they  needed,  and  upon 
whom  they  thought  they  could  rely.  Unable  always  to  ex- 
plain to  these  men  their  purposes,  they  were  often  compelled 
to  trust  to  circumstances  and  the  force  of  association  to  com- 
plete the  work;  and  in  doing  so,  they  occasionally  made  mis- 
takes. 

Among  the  men  they  fixed  upon  was  Captain  Sherman. 
Recognizing  his  aptitude  in  military  art  and  science,  the  lead- 
ers in  Louisiana  determined  to  place  him  at  the  head  of  the 
new  State  Military  Academy  at  Alexandria.  It  was  explained 
to  him  that  the  object  of  establishing  the  school  was  to  aid 
in  suppressing  negro  insurrections,  to  enable  the  State  to 
protect  her  borders  from  the  Indian  incursions,  then  giving 
trouble  in  Arkansas  and  Texas,  and  to  form  a  nucleus  for  de- 
fense, in  case  of  an  attack  by  a  foreign  enemy. 

It  is  rare  that  a  man  whose  youth  has  been  spent  in  the 
army  does  not,  in  his  maturer  years,  retain  a  strong  desire 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  31 

for  the  old  life  and  the  old  companions.  Let  the  temptation 
be  offered  in  a  moment  when  the  cares  and  details  of  civil  life 
look  more  than  ordinarily  dull,  and  the  memories  of  former 
days  may  present  a  contrast  too  vivid  for  most  men  to 
resist. 

So  it  was  with  Captain  Sherman.  The  offer  was  in  line  with 
his  associations,  his  tastes,  and  his  ambition.  He  accordingly 
accepted  the  office,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  Louisiana  State  Military  Academy,  early  in  the 
year  1860.  The  liberal  salary  of  five  thousand  dollars  a  year 
was  attached  to  the  office. 

The  efficiency  which  Captain  Sherman  here  displayed  con- 
firmed the  leaders  in  that  State  in  the  correctness  of  their 
choice,  and  satisfied  them  that  he  was  a  man  to  be  kept  at 
any  price.  They  were  met  at  the  outset  by  a  deep-seated 
loyalty,  by  a  deep-rooted  fidelity  to  the  Union,  upon  which 
they  had  by  no  means  calculated.  Every  effort  was  expended 
to  convert  him  to  their  way  of  thinking,  but  in  vain.  Sur- 
face opinions  change  with  the  wind,  but  it  is  useless  to  argue 
against  fundamental  beliefs.  And  such  was  the  character  of 
Sherman's  attachment  to  the  Union. 

As  events  ripened,  he  saw  clearly  that  the  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  the  presidency  would  be  followed  by  the  general 
secession  of  the  Southern  States,  and  that  secession  meant 
war.  When,  at  length,  he  perceived  that  the  result  could 
no  longer  be  avoided,  he  decided  upon  his  own  course,  and 
sent  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  this  clear  and  straightfor- 
ward letter,  dated  January  18,  1861: 

"SiR: — As  I  occupy  a  ^z/#.yz -military  position  under  this 
State,  I  deem  it  proper  to  acquaint  you  that  I  accepted  such 
position  when  Louisiana  was  a  State  in  the  Union,  and 
when  the  motto  of  the  seminary,  inserted  in  marble  over  the 


32  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

main  door,  was:  'By  the  liberality  of  the  General  Govern" 
ment  of  the  United  States :  The  Union — Esto  Perpetua. ' 

"Recent  events  foreshadow  a  great  change,  and  it  becomes 
all  men  to  choose.  If  Louisiana  withdraws  from  the  Fed- 
eral Union,  I  prefer  to  maintain  my  allegiance  to  the  old 
Constitution  as  long  as  a  fragment  of  it  survives,  and  my 
longer  stay  here  would  be  wrong  in  every  sense  of  the  word. 
In  that  event  I  beg  you  will  send  or  appoint  some  authorized 
agent  to  take  charge  of  the  arms  and  munitions  of  war  here 
belonging  to  the  State,  or  direct  me  what  disposition  should 
be  made  of  them. 

"And  furthermore,  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors, I  beg  you  to  take  immediate  steps  to  relieve  me  as 
superintendent  the  moment  the  State  determines  to  secede; 
for  on  no  earthly  account  will  I  do  any  act,  or  think  any 
thought,  hostile  to  or  in  defiance  of  the  old  Government  of 
the  United  States.  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Supt." 

He  also  forwarded  the  following  private  letter  to  the  Gov- 
ernor: 

[PRIVATE.] 

"January  18,  1861. 
"To  Governor  MOORE: 

"Mv  DEAR  SIR:  I  take  it  for  granted  that  you  have  been 
expecting  for  some  days  the  accompanying  paper  from  me 
(the  above  official  letter).  I  have  repeatedly  and  again  made 
known  to  General  Graham  and  Dr.  Smith  that,  in  the  event 
of  a  severance  of  the  relations  hitherto  existing  between  the 
Confederate  States  of  this  Union,  I  would  be  forced  to  choose 
the  old  Union.  It  is  barely  possible  all  the  states  may  secede, 
South  and  North,  that  new  combinations  may  result,  but  this 
process  will  be  one  of  time  and  uncertainty,  and  I  cannot 
with  my  opinions  await  the  subsequent  development. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  33 

"I  have  never  been  a  politician,  and  therefore  undervalue 
the  excited  feelings  and  opinions  of  present  rulers,  but  I 
do  think,  if  this  people  cannot  execute  a  form  of  government 
like  the  present,  that  a  worse  one  will  result. 

"I  will  keep  the  cadets  as  quiet  as  possible.  They  are  nerv- 
ous, but  I  think  the  interest  of  the  State  requires  them  here, 
guarding  this  property,  and  acquiring  a  knowledge  which 
will  be  useful  to  your  State  in  aftertimes. 

"When  I  leave,  which  I  now  regard  as  certain,  the  present 
professors  can  manage  well  enough,  to  afford  you  leisure 
time  to  find  a  suitable  successor  to  me.  You  might  order 
Major  Smith  to  receipt  for  the  arms,  and  to  exercise  military 
command,  while  the  academic  exercises  could  go  on  under 
the  board.  In  time,  some  gentleman  will  turn  up,  better 
qualified  than  I  am,  to  carry  on  the  seminary  to  its  ultimate 
point  of  success.  I  entertain  the  kindest  feeling  toward  all, 
and  would  leave  the  State  with  much  regret;  only  in  great 
events  we  must  choose,  one  way  or  the  other. 
"Truly,  your  friend, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

The  following  from  the  memoirs  of  General  Sherman  will 
give  a  clear  understanding  of  the  state  of  feeling  at  the  time 
through  the  Southern  States: 

One  evening,  at  a  large  dinner-party  at  Governor  Moore's 
at  which  were  present  several  members  of  the  Louisiana  Leg- 
islature, Taylor,  Bragg,  and  the  Attorney-General  Hyams, 
after  the  ladies  had  left  the  table,  I  noticed  at  Governor 
Moore's  end  quite  a  lively  discussion  going  on,  in  which  my 
name  was  frequently  used;  at  length  the  Governor  called  to 
me  saying:  "Colonel  Sherman,  you  can  readily  understand 
that,  with  your  brother  the  abolitionist  candidate  for  Speaker, 
some  of  our  people  wonder  that  you  should  be  here  at  the 
3 


34  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

head  of  an  important  State  institution.  Now,  you  are  at  my 
table,  and  I  assure  you  of  my  confidence.  Won't  you  speak 
your  mind  freely  on  this  question  of  slavery,  that  so  agitates 
the  land?  You  are  under  my  roof,  and,  whatever  you  say, 
you  have  my  protection." 

I  answered:  "Governor  Moore,  you  mistake  in  calling 
my  brother,  John  Sherman,  an  abolitionist.  We  have  been 
separated  since  childhood — I  in  the  army,  and  he  pursuing 
his  profession  of  law  in  Northern  Ohio;  and  it  is  possible  we 
may  differ  in  general  sentiment,  but  I  deny  that  he  is  con- 
sidered at  home  an  abolitionist;  and,  although  he  prefers  the 
free  institutions  under  which  he  lives  to  those  of  slavery  which 
prevail  here,  he  would  not  of  himself  take  from  you  by  law 
or  force  any  property  whatever,  even  your  slaves." 

Then  said  Moore:  "Give  us  your  own  views  of  slavery 
as  you  see  it  throughout  the  South." 

I  answered  in  effect  that  "the  people  of  Louisiana  were 
hardly  responsible  for  slavery,  as  they  had  inherited  it;  that 
I  found  two  distinct  conditions  of  slavery,  domestic  and  field 
hands.  The  domestic  slaves,  employed  by  the  families  were 
probably  better  treated  than  any  slaves  on  earth;  but  the 
condition  of  the  field-hands  was  different,  depending  more 
on  the  temper  and  disposition  of  their  masters  and  overseers 
than  were  those  employed  about  the  house;"  and  I  went  on 
to  say  that,  "were  I  a  citizen  of  Louisiana,  and  a  member  of 
the  Legislature,  I  would  deem  it  wise  to  bring  the  legal  con- 
dition of  the  slaves  more  near  the  status  of  human  beings 
under  all  Christian  and  civilized  governments.  In  the  first 
place,  I  argue  that,  in  sales  of  slaves  made  by  the  State,  I 
would  forbid  the  separation  of  families,  letting  the  father, 
mother,  and  children,  be  sold  together  to  one  person,  instead 
of  each  to  the  highest  bidder.  And,  again,  I  would  advise 
the  repeal  of  the  statute  which  enacted  a  severe  penalty  for 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  35 

even  the  owner  to  teach  his  slave  to  read  and  write,  because 
that  actually  qualified  property  and  took  away  a  part  of  its 
value — illustrating  the  assertion  by  the  case  of  Henry  Samp- 
son, who  had  been  the  slave  of  Colonel  Chambers,  of  Rapides 
Parish,  who  had  gone  to  California  as  the  servant  of  an  offi- 
cer of  the  army,  and  who  was  afterwards  employed  by  me  in 
the  bank  at  San  Francisco.  At  first  he  could  not  write  or 
read,  and  I  could  only  afford  to  pay  him  one  hundred  dollars 
a  month;  but  he  was  taught  to  read  and  write  by  Reilley, 
our  bank-teller,  when  his  services  became  worth  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars  a  month,  which  enabled  him  to  buy  his 
own  freedom  and  that  of  his  brother  and  his  family." 

What  I  said  was  listened  to  by  all  with  the  most  profound 
attention;  and,  when  I  was  through,  some  one  (I  think  it 
was  Mr.  Hyams)  struck  the  table  with  his  fist,  making  the 
glasses  jingle,  and  said,  "By  God,  he  is  right!"  and  at  once 
he  took  up  the  debate,  which  went  on  for  an  hour  or  more, 
on  both  sides  with  ability  and  fairness.  Of  course,  I  was 
glad  to  be  thus  relieved,  because  at  the  time  all  men  in 
Louisiana  were  dreadfully  excited  on  questions  affecting 
their  slaves,  who  constituted  the  bulk  of  their  wealth,  and 
without  whom  they  honestly  believed  that  sugar,  cotton,  and 
rice  could  not  possibly  be  cultivated." 

That  the  retiring  superintendent  had  possessed  the  confi- 
dence and  regard  of  the  state  officials  is  abundantly  demon- 
strated by  the  following  letter,  in  which  his  resignation  was 
accepted: 

"EXECUTIVE  OFFICE  ) 
BATON  ROUGE,  LOUISIANA  January  23,  1861.  ) 

"Mv  DEAR  SIR:  It  is  with  the  deepest  regret  I  acknowledge 
receipt  of  your  communication  of  the  iSthinst.  In  the  press- 
ure of  official  business,  I  can  now  only  request  you  to  trans- 
fer to  Professor  Smith  the  arms,  munitions,  and  funds  in  your 


36  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

hands,  whenever  you  conclude  to  withdraw  from  the  position 
you  have  filled  with  so  much  distinction.  You  cannot  regret 
more  than  I  do  the  necessity  which  deprives  us  of  your  serv- 
ices, and  you  will  bear  with  you  the  respect,  confidence,  and 
admiration  of  all  who  have  been  associated  with  you. 

"Very  truly,  your  friend, 

"THOMAS  O.  MOORE." 

Colonel  W.   T.    SHERMAN,    Superintendent  Military  Acad- 
emy',   Alexandria" 

There  has  been  absurd  accusation  laid  against  General 
Sherman  that  he  was  practically  enjoying  southern  hospital- 
ity when  the  war  broke  out,  and  that  he  should  therefore  have 
taken  no  part  in  the  contest  against  those  he  was  serving. 
He  had  at  all  times  made  known  his  sentiments  as  a  North- 
ern man  and  a  patriot.  That  he  did  not  deceive  his  asso- 
ciates is  well  proved  by  the  correspondence  that  followed  his 
surrender  of  his  position  as  superintendent  of  the  military 
school.  No  reader  of  these  communications  and  official 
records  will  listen  to  the  silly  aspersion  sought  to  be  cast 
on  the  name  of  an  honorable  soldier.  Let  them  stand  here 
as  Sherman's  own  answer  to  the  charge. 

"BATON  ROUGE,  JANUARY  28,  1861. 
"To  Major  SHERMAN,  Superintendent,  Alexandria. 

"MY  DEAR  SIR:  Your  letter  was  duly  received,  and  would 
have  been  answered  ere  this  time,  could  I  have  arranged 
sooner  the  matter  of  the  five  hundred  dollars.  I  shall  go 
from  here  to  New  Orleans  to-day  or  to-morrow,  and  will  re- 
main there  till  Saturday  after  next,  perhaps.  I  shall  expect 
to  meet  you  there,  as  indicated  in  your  note  to  me. 

"I  need  not  tell  you  that  it  is  with  no  ordinary  regret  that 
I  view  your  determination  to  leave  us,  for  really  I  believe 
that  the  success  of  our  institution,  now  almost  assured,  is 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  37 

jeopardized  thereby.  I  am  sure  that  we  will  never  have 
a  superintendent  with  whom  I  shall  have  more  pleasant  rela- 
tions than  those  which  have  existed  between  yourself  and  me. 

"I  fully  appreciate  the  motives  which  have  induced  you  to 
give  up  a  position  presenting  so  many  advantages  to  your- 
self, and  sincerely  hope  that  you  may  in  any  future  enter- 
prise, enjoy  the  success  which  your  character  and  ability 
merit  and  deserve. 

"Should  you  come  down  on  the  Rapides  (steamer),  please 
look  after  my  wife,  who  will,  I  hope,  accompany  you  on  said 
boat,  or  some  other  good  one. 

"Colonel  Bragg  informs  me  that  the  necessary  orders  have 
been  given  for  the  transfer  and  receipt  by  Major  Smith  of 
the  public  property. 

"I  herewith  transmit  a  request  to  the  secretary  to  convene 
the  Board  of  Supervisors,  that  they  may  act  as  seems  best 
to  them  in  the  premises. 

"In  the  meantime,  Major  Smith  will  command  by  seniority 
the  cadets,  and  the  Academic  Board  will  be  able  to  conduct 
the  scientific  exercises  of  the  institution  until  the  Board  of 
Supervisors  can  have  time  to  act.  Hoping  to  meet  you  soon 
at  the  St.  Charles,  I  am,  most  truly,  your  friend  and  servant, 

"S.  A.  SMITH." 

"P.  S. — Governor  Moore  desires  me  to  express  his  profound 
regret  that  the  State  is  about  to  lose  one  who  we  all  fondly 
hoped  had  cast  his  destinies  for  weal  or  woe  among  us;  and 
that  he  is  sensible  that  we  lose  thereby  an  officer  whom  it 
will  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to  replace. 

"S,  A.  S." 

"BATON  ROUGE,  February  u,  1861. 
"  To  Major  SHERMAN,  Alexandria. 

"DEAR  SIR:     I  have  been  in  New  Orleans  for  ten  days,  and 


38  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

on  returning  here  find  two  letters  from  you,  also  your  prompt 
answer  to  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
for  which  I  am  much  obliged. 

"The  resolution  passed  the  last  day  before  adjournment.  I 
was  purposing  to  respond,  when  your  welcome  reports  came 
to  hand.  I  have  arranged  to  pay  you  five  hundred  dollars. 

"I  will  say  nothing  of  general  politics,  except  to  give  my 
opinion  that  there  is  not  to  be  any  war. 

"In  the  event,  would  it  not  be  possible  for  you  to  become 
a  citizen  of  our  state?  Every  one  deplores  your  determina- 
tion to  leave  us.  At  the  same  time  your  friends  feel  that  you 
are  abandoning  a  position  that  might  become  an  object  of  de- 
sire to  any  one. 

"I  will  try  to  meet  you  in  New  Orleans  at  any  time  you 
may  indicate;  but  it  would  be  best  for  you  to  stop  here, 
when,  if  possible,  I  will  accompany  you.  Should  you  do  so, 
you  will  find  me  just  above  the  State  House,  and  facing  it. 

"Bring  with  you  a  few  copies  of  the  'Rules  of  the  Seminary. ' 
"Yours  truly,  S.  A.  SMITH." 

"LOUISIANA  STATE  SEMINARY  OF  LEARNING  AND  ) 
MILITARY  ACADEMY,  February  14,  1861.  j 

"Colonel  VI.  T.  SHERMAN: 

"SiR:  I  am  instructed  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  this 
institution  to  present  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  adopted  by 
them  at  their  last  meeting: 

"Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors 
are  due,  and  are  hereby  tendered,  to  Colonel  William  T. 
Sherman  for  the  able  and  efficient  manner  in  which  he  has 
conducted  the  affairs  of  the  seminary  during  the  time  the  in- 
stitution has  been  under  his  control — a  period  attended  with 
unusual  difficulties,  requiring  on  the  part  of  the  superinten- 
dent, to  successfully  overcome  them,  a  high  order  of  adminis- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  39 

trative  talent.  And  the  board  further  bear  willing  testimony  to 
the  valuable  services  that  Colonel  Sherman  has  rendered 
them  in  their  efforts  to  establish  an  institution  of  learning  in 
accordance  with  the  beneficent  design  of  the  State  and  Fed- 
eral Governments;  evincing  at  all  times  a  readiness  to  adapt 
himself  to  the  ever-varying  requirements  of  an  institution  of 
learning  in  its  infancy,  struggling  to  attain  a  position  of 
honor  and  usefulness. 

"Resolved  further.  That  in  accepting  the  resignation  of 
Colonel  Sherman  as  Superintendent  of  the  State  Seminary  of 
Learning  and  Military  Academy,  we  tender  to  him  assurances 
of  our  high  personal  regard,  and  our  sincere  regret  at  the 
occurrence  of  causes  that  render  it  necessary  to  part  with  so 
esteemed  and  valued  a  friend,  as  well  as  co-laborer  in  the 
cause  of  education. 

POWHATAN  CLARKE,  Secretary  to  the  Board." 

A  copy  of  the  resolution  of  the  Academic  Board,  passed  at 
their  session  of  April  i,  1861: 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  resignation  of  the  late  superintend- 
ent, Colonel  W.  T.  Sherman,  the  Academic  Board  deem  it 
not  improper  to  express  their  deep  conviction  of  the  loss  the 
institution  has  sustained  in  being  thus  deprived  of  an  able 
head.  They  cannot  fail  to  appreciate  the  manliness  of  char- 
acter which  has  always  marked  the  actions  of  Colonel  Sher- 
man. While  he  is  personally  endeared  to  many  of  them  as 
a  friend,  they  consider  it  their  high  pleasure  to  tender  to  him 
in  this  resolution  their  regret  on  his  separation,  and  their 
sincere  wish  for  his  future  welfare." 

At  this  point  closes  that  period  of  Sherman's  career  which 
antedated  the  war  in  which  his  services  to  his  country  placed 
him  in  the  front  ranks  of  heroes.  In  every  position  he  had 
earned  the  rewards  of  honesty  and  capacity.  At  every  step 


4O  LIFE    OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

in  his  upward  march  he  had  redeemed  the  promise  of  his 
youth.  He  had  extorted  praise  as  a  child  for  his  fidelity  as  a 
messenger  boy.  He  was  now  approaching  a  time  when  Sher- 
man's messages  were  to  be  hailed  with  joy  in  every  hamlet 
between  the  two  oceans. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  REBELLION — SHERMAN  IS  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  A  HORSE  RAIL- 
ROAD IN  ST.  LOUIS  WHEN  SUMTER  FALLS — READY  FOR 
ACTIVE  SERVICE  AS  WHEN  THE  MEXICAN 
TROUBLES  OCCURRED. 

His  resignation  having  been  accepted,  he  returned  to  St. 
Louis.  In  consequence  of  the  uncertain  aspect  of  political 
affairs,  he  had  deemed  it  best  that  his  family  should  not  ac- 
company him  to  the  South. 

He  was  not  to  remain  long  inactive.  The  crisis  for  which 
the  pro-slavery  leaders  had  been  preparing  was  precipitated 
by  the  rashness  of  the  more  incautious,  and  hurried  forward 
by  the  frenzy  of  the  people.  The  conspirators  had  proposed 
to  themselves  to  capture  Washington  before  the  North  should 
be  able  to  organize  resistance,  and  to  proclaim  themselves 
the  true  and  lawful  Government  of  the  United  States.  They 
would  have  declared  Mr.  Lincoln's  election  as  unconstitu- 
tional, and  therefore  null,  and  would  have  based  their  as- 
sumption of  power  on  the  right  of  self-preservation.  From 
their  knowledge  of  the  disposition  of  most  of  the  foreign 
ministers  resident  at  the  Federal  capital,  they  expected  their 
recognition  by  the  leading  European  powers  to  follow  closely 
upon  the  act.  They  counted  upon  the  trade-loving  and  peace- 
ful instincts  of  the  people  of  the  Free  States  to  keep  the 
North  inert.  The  great  Central  and  Western  States  would 
probably  be  with  them,  and  New  England  they  would  gladly 
leave  "out  in  the  cold."  But  while  the  cool-headed  con- 
spirators plotted  thus,  one  element  of  their  calculation  failed. 

41 


42  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

It  had  been  necessary  to  fire  the  Southern  heart  to  the  point 
of  rebellion — the  .  Southern  brain  took  fire  as  well.  On  the 
1 2th  of  April,  1 86 1,  Mr.  Davis  gave  the  order  to  open  upon 
Fort  Sumter.  At  noon  the  first  gun  was  fired,  and  the  war 
was  begun. 

Sherman  had  gone  to  Washington  about  the  time  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  inauguration,  and  had  talked  of  the  state  of  affairs 
with  characteristic  freedom.  He  believed  that  war  was  in- 
evitable— that  it  would  be  no  pantomime  of  wooden  swords, 
but  a  long  and  bitter  struggle.  He  endeavored  in  vain,  in 
earnest  language,  to  impress  his  convictions  upon  the  Admin- 
istration. Nobody  listened  to  him  except  the  President. 
Sherman  went  to  him  to  offer  his  services  in  any  ca- 
pacity. 

His  strong  words  elicited  a  smile  from  Mr.  Lincoln.  "We 
shall  not  need  many  men  like  you,"  he  said;  "the  affair  will 
soon  blow  over."  Some  of  Sherman's  friends  in  the  army 
who  believed  there  would  be  a  war,  urged  his  appointment 
to  the  chief  clerkship  of  the  War  Department — a  position 
which  at  that  time  was  always  held  by  a  confidential  adviser 
of  the  Secretary  of  War  and  somewhat  later  he  was  strongly 
recommended  for  the  position  of  quartermaster-general  of 
the  army,  made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Brigadier- 
General  Joseph  E.  Johnston.  Neither  application  was  suc- 
cessful. 

Sherman  knew  the  Southern  people;  the  Administration 
did  not.  He  knew  we  were  sleeping  upon  a  volcano. 

On  the  1 5th  of  April,  1 86 1,  the  President  called  for  seventy- 
five  thousand  men  to  serve  for  three  months,  to  be  employed 
in  enforcing  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  to  hold  and 
occupy  the  forts,  and  other  public  places  belonging  to  the 
National  Government,  which  had  been  seized.  Sherman  was 
urged  by  his  friends  to  go  to  Ohio,  and  raise  one  of  the  three- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  43 

months  regiments.  He  declined  to  consider  such  a  trifling 
expedient,  as  he  considered  it.  He  did  not  believe  that  the 
three-months  men  would  do  any  good.  This  affair  was  no 
riot,  but  a  revolution.  It  was  not  a  mob,  to  be  put  down  by 
the  posse  comitatus,  but  a  war,  to  be  fought  by  an  army. 
"Why,"  he  said,  "you  might  as  well  attempt  to  put  out  the 
flames  of  a  burning  house  with  a  squirt-gun." 

He  used  all  the  influence  at  his  command  to  induce  the 
authorities  to  recognize  his  view  of  the  case,  and,  by  at  once 
oragnizing  the  whole  military  force  of  the  country,  to  crush 
the  rebellion  in  its  infancy.  But  the  authorities  still  believed 
there  would  be  no  fight — that  the  rebellion  would  succumb  at 
the  sight  of  the  power  of  the  Union. 

Of  his  interview  with  president  Lincoln  regarding  the 
probability  of  war,  the  following  from  his  own  pen  places 
in  strong  light  the  persistence  with  which  the  people  of  the 
North  held  on  to  the  belief  that  there  would  be  no  war. 

"John  then  turned  to  me,  and  said,  'Mr.  President,  this  is 
my  brother,  Colonel  Sherman,  who  is  just  up  from  Louisiana; 
he  may  give  you  some  information  you  want.'  'Ah!'  said 
Mr.  Lincoln,  'how  are  they  getting  along  down  there?'  I 
said,  'They  think  they  are  getting  along  swimmingly — they 
are  preparing  for  war. '  'Oh,  well!'  said  he,  'I  guess  we'll 
manage  to  keep  house. '  I  was  silenced,  said  no  more  to 
him,  and  we  soon  left.  I  was  sadly  disappointed,  and  re- 
member that  I  broke  out  on  John,  d — ning  the  politicians 
generally,  saying,  'You  have  got  things  in  a  hell  of  a  fix,  and 
you  may  get  them  out  as  best  you  can, '  adding  that  the 
country  was  sleeping  on  a  volcano  that  might  burst  forth  at 
any  minute,  but  that  I  was  going  to  St.  Louis  to  take  care  of  my 
family,  and  would  have  no  more  to  do  with  it.  John  begged 
me  to  be  more  patient,  but  I  said  I  would  not;  that  I  had  no 
time  to  wait,  that  I  was  off  for  St.  Louis;  and  off  I  went. 


44  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

At  Lancaster  I  found  letters  from  Major  Turner,  inviting 
me  to  St.  Louis,  as  the  place  in  the  Fifth  Street  Railroad 
was  a  sure  thing,  and  that  Mr.  Lucas  would  rent  me  a  good 
house  on  Locust  Street,  suitable  for  my  family,  for  six  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year." 

But  there  was  no  possibility  of  this  soldier  spending  his 
life  in  peaceful  pursuits.  As  if  in  mockery  of  his  constant 
desire  to  be  rid  of  militarism  and  its  forms,  fate  was  lead- 
ing the  great  hero  to  the  performance  of  services  that  would 
link  his  name  with  his  country's  history.  There  were  camps 
around  St.  Louis.  The  war-cloud  did  not  blow  over.  Mis- 
souri was  almost  debatable  ground.  During  the  excitement 
the  superintendent  of  the  horse-railroad  was  at  the  post  of 
duty,  caring  for  interests  placed  in  his  -hands.  But  he  was 
not  careless  of  the  situation.  He  was  oppressed  with  fear  of 
the  future,  for  he  understood  the  Southern  people  better 
than  those  who  had  not  lived  among  them. 

The  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter,  which  was  announced 
by  telegraph,  began  April  I2th,  and  ended  on  the  I4th.  All 
knew  that  the  war  was  actually  begun,  and  though  the  South 
was  openly,  manifestly  the  aggressor,  yet  her  friends  and 
apologists  insisted  that  she  was  simply  acting  on  a  justifiable 
defensive,  and  that  in  the  forcible  seizure  of  the  public  forts 
within  her  limits  the  people  were  acting  with  reasonable  pru- 
dence and  foresight.  Yet  neither  party  seemed  willing  to 
invade,  or  cross  the  border.  Davis,  who  ordered  the  bom- 
bardment of  Sumter,  knew  the  temper  of  his  people  well, 
and  foresaw  that  it  would  precipitate  the  action  of  the  border 
States;  for  almost  immediately  four  commonwealths  fol- 
lowed the  lead  of  the  Cotton  States,  and  conventions  were 
deliberating  in  two  others. 

On  the  night  of  Saturday,  April  6th,  Sherman  received  the 
following  dispatch: 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN.  45 

"WASHINGTON,  April  6,  1861. 
"Major  W.  T.  SHERMAN: 

"Will  you  accept  the  chief  clerkship  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment? We  will  make  you  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  when 
Congress  meets.  M.  BLAIR,  Postmaster-General" 

To  which  he  replied  by  telegraph:  "I  cannot  accept;"  and 
by  mail  as  follows: 

"OFFICE  ST.  Louis  RAILROAD  COMPANY,  ) 
Monday,  April  8,  1861.  j 

"Hon.  M.  BLAIR,   Washington,  D.  C. 

"I  received  about  nine  o'clock  Saturday  night,  your  tele- 
graphic dispatch,  which  I  have  this  moment  answered,  'I 
cannot  accept.' 

"I  have  quite  a  large  family,  and  when  I  resigned  my  place 
in  Louisiana,  on  account  of  secession,  I  had  no  time  to  lose; 
and,  therefore,  after  my  hasty  visit  to  Washington,  where  I 
saw  no  chance  of  employment,  I  came  to  St.  Louis;  have 
accepted  a  place  in  this  company,  have  rented  a  house,  and 
incurred  other  obligations,  so  that  I  am  not  at  liberty  to 
change. 

"I  thank  you  for  the  compliment  contained  in  your  offer, 
and  assure  you  that  I  wish  the  administration  all  success  in 
its  almost  impossible  task  of  governing  this  distracted  and 
anarchied  people. 

"Yours  truly, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

There  were  those  ready  to  accuse  Sherman  of  disloyalty. 
They  remembered  that  he  had  been  in  the  South,  and  in  the 
disturbed  state  of  the  public  mind  every  criticism  offered  was 
accepted  as  evidence  of  treachery.  But  it  was  the  act  of  a 
man  who  knew  what  was  his  duty  and  what  was  to  be  that 
of  the  Government.  He  was  a  soldier  and  trained  in  the 


46  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

arts  of  war.  He  had  sufficiently  studied  the  condition  in 
the  South  to  form  his  conclusions.  That  he  formed  them 
wisely,  the  result  demonstrated.  That  he  was  never  disloyal 
to  the  Government  was  proved  when  he  so  promptly  accepted 
a  position  in  which  he  felt  he  could  render  service. 

General  Frank  Blair  urged  him  to  accept  a  command  in 
the  three-months  service.  Sherman  refused,  and  stated  his 
reasons  so  clearly  as  to  impress  his  hearer.  Later,  when 
Lincoln  had  called  for  three-years  volunteers,  Sherman 
sent  the  following  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

"OFFICE  OF  ST.  Louis  RAILROAD  COMPANY,  ) 

May,  8,  1861.     j 
" Hon.  S.  CAMERON,  Secretary  of  War. 

"DEAR  SIR:  I  hold  myself  now,  as  always,  prepared  to 
serve  rny  country  in  the  capacity  for  which  I  was  trained.  I 
did  not  and  will  not  volunteer  for  three  months,  because  I 
cannot  throw  my  family  on  the  cold  charity  of  the  world. 
But  for  the  three-years  call,  made  by  the  President,  an 
officer  can  prepare  his  command  and  do  good  service. 

"I  will  not  volunteer  as  a  soldier,  because  rightfully  or 
wrongfully  I  feel  unwilling  to  take  a  mere  private's  place,  and, 
having  for  many  years  lived  in  California  and  Louisiana,  the 
men  are  not  well  enough  acquainted  with  me  to  elect  me  to 
my  appropriate  place. 

"Should  my  services  be  needed,  the  records  of  the  War 
Department  will  enable  you  to  designate  the  station  in  which 
I  can  render  most  service. 

"Yours  truly, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

He  received  no  direct  answer,  but  the  next  week  was  noti- 
fied of  his  appointment  as  colonel  of  the  Thirteenth  Regular 
Infantry.  Speaking  of  his  first  experiences  Sherman  writes: 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN.  47 

"I  remember  going  to  the  arsenal  on  the  Qth  of  May,  tak- 
ing my  children  with  me  in  the  street-cars.  Within  the 
arsenal  wall  were  drawn  up  in  parallel  lines  four  regiments 
of  the  'Home  Guards,'  and  I  saw  men  distributing  cartridges 
to  the  boxes.  I  also  saw  General  Lyon  running  about  with 
his  hair  in  the  wind,  his  pockets  full  of  papers,  wild  and  ir- 
regular, but  I  knew  him  to  be  a  man  of  vehement  purpose 
and  of  determined  action.  I  saw  of  course  that  it  meant 
business,  but  whether  for  defense  or  offense  I  did  not  know. 
The  next  morning  I  went  up  to  the  railroad  office  in  Bre- 
men, as  usual,  and  heard  at  every  corner  of  the  streets  that 
the  *  Dutch'  were  moving  on  Camp  Jackson.  People  we're 
barricading  their  houses,  and  men  were  running  in  that 
direction.  I  hurried  through  my  business  as  quickly  as  I 
could  and  got  back  to  my  house  on  Locust  Street  by  twelve 
o'clock.  Charles  Ewing  and  Hunter  were  there,  and  insist- 
ed on  going  out  to  camp  to  see  'the  fun.'  I  tried  to  dis- 
suade them,  saying  that  in  case  of  conflict  the  by-standers 
were  more  likely  to  be  killed  than  the  men  engaged,  but  they 
would  go.  I  felt  as  much  interested  as  anybody  else,  but 
staid  at  home,  took  my  little  son  Willie,  who  was  about 
seven  years  old,  and  walked  up  and  down  the  pavement  in 
front  of  our  house,  listening  for  the  sound  of  musketry  or 
cannon  in  the  direction  of  Camp  Jackson.  While  so  engaged 
Miss  Eliza  Dean,  who  lived  opposite  us,  called  me  across 
the  street,  told  me  that  her  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Scott,  was  a 
surgeon  in  Frost's  camp,  and  she  was  dreadfully  afraid  he 
would  be  killed.  I  reasoned  with  her  that  General  Lyon  was 
a  regular  officer;  that  if  he  had  gone  out,  as  reported,  to 
Camp  Jackson,  he  would  take  with  him  such  a  force  as  would 
make  resistance  impossible.  But  she  would  not  be  comforted, 
saying  that  the  camp  was  made  up  of  young  men  from  the 
first  and  best  families  of  St.  Louis,  and  that  they  were  proud, 


48  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

and  would  fight.  I  explained  that  young  men  of  the  best 
families  did  not  like  to  be  killed  better  than  ordinary  people. 
Edging  gradually  up  the  street,  I  was  in  Olive  Street  just 
about  Twelfth,  when  I  saw  a  man  running  from  the  direction 
of  Camp  Jackson  at  full  speed,  calling,  as  he  went,  'They've 
surrendered,  they've  surrendered!'  Sol  turned  back  and 
rang  the  bell  at  Mrs.  Dean's.  Eliza  came  to  the  door,  and 
I  explained  what  I  had  heard;  but  she  angrily  slammed  the 
door  in  my  face!  Evidently  she  was  disappointed  to  find 
she  was  mistaken  in  her  estimate  of  the  rash  courage  of  the 
best  families. 

"I  again  turned  in  the  direction  of  Camp  Jackson,  my  boy 
Willie  with  me  still.  At  the  head  of  Olive  Street,  abreast 
of  Lindell's  Grove,  I  found  Frank  Blair's  regiment  in  the 
street,  with  ranks  opened,  and  the  Camp  Jackson  prisoners 
inside.  A  crowd  of  people  was  gathered  around,  calling  to 
the  prisoners  by  name  some,  hurrahing  for  Jeff  Davis,  and 
others  encouraging  the  troops.  Men,  women,  and  children 
were  in  the  crowd.  I  passed  along  till  I  found  myself  inside 
the  grove,  where  I  met  Charles  Ewing  and  John  Hunter,  and 
we  stood  looking  at  the  troops  on  the  road,  heading  toward 
the  city.  A  band  of  music  was  playing  at  the  head,  and  the 
column  made  one  or  two  ineffectual  starts,  but  for  some 
reason  was  halted.  The  battalion  of  regulars  was  abreast 
of  me,  of  which  Major  Rufus  Saxton  was  in  command,  and 
I  gave  him  an  evening  paper,  which  I  had  bought  of  the 
newsboy  on  my  way  out.  He  was  reading  from  it  some  piece 
of  news,  sitting  on  his  horse,  when  the  column  again  began 
to  move  forward,  and  he  resumed  his  place  at  the  head  of 
his  command.  At  that  part  of  the  road,  or  street,  was  an 
embankment  about  eight  feet  high,  and  a  drunken  fellow 
tried  to  pass  over  it  to  the  people  opposite,  One  of  the 
regular  sergeant  file-closers  ordered  him  back,  but  he  at- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  49 

tempted  to  pass  through  the  ranks,  when  the  sergeant  barred 
his  progress   with   his   musket  'a-port. '     The   drunken    man 
seized  his   musket,  when   the  sergeant   threw   him   off    with 
violence,  and  he  rolled  over   and  over   down  the    bank.      By 
the  time  the  man   had  picked  himself   up  and  got    his  hat, 
which  had  fallen  off,  and  had   again   mounted  the   embank- 
ment, the  regulars  had  passed,  and  the   head    of  Osterhaus' 
regiment  of  Home  Guards  had   come  up.      The   man    had  in 
his  hand  a  small  pistol,  which   he  fired  off,  and  I    heard  that 
the  ball  had  struck  the   leg  of  one  of  Osterhaus'     staff;  the 
regiment  stopped;  there   was  a    moment  of    confusion,  when 
the  soldiers  of  that  regiment  began  to  fire  over  our  heads  in  the 
grove.      I  heard  the  balls  cutting  the  leaves  above  our  heads, 
and  saw  several  men    and  women    running  in  all  directions, 
some  of  whom  were  wounded.      Of  course  there  was  a  general 
stampede.      Charles  Ewing  threw  Willie   on  the  ground  and 
covered  him  with  his  body.      Hunter  ran  behind  the  hill,  and 
I  also  threw  myself  on  the  ground.      The  fire   ran  back  from 
the  head  of  the  regiment  toward  its  rear,  and  as  I   saw  them 
reloading  their  pieces,  I  jerked  Willie  up,  ran  back  with  him 
into  a  gully  which  covered  us,  lay  there   until  I  saw  that  the 
fire  had  ceased,  and  that   the  column  was    again  moving  on, 
when  I  took  up  Willie  and   started  back  for    home  round  by 
way  of    Market    Street.      A    woman    and    child    were   killed 
outright;  two    or  three    men    were    also    killed,  and    several 
others  were  wounded.     The  great  mass  of  the  people  on  that 
occasion  were   simply  curious   spectators,  though    men  were 
sprinkled  through    the   crowd  calling   out,  'Hurrah  for  Jeff 
Davis!'  and  others  were  particularly  abusive  of  the  'damned 
Dutch. '      Lyons   posted    a   guard  in    charge    of    the    vacant 
camp,  and  marched  his  prisoners  down  to  the   arsenal;  some 
were  paroled,  and  others  held,  till  afterward  they  were  regu- 
larly exchanged." 
4 


5<D  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

Shortly  after  this  event  Sherman  proceeded  to  Washington 
to  report  under  his  commission  as  colonel.      He  says: 

"Of  course  I  could  no  longer  defer  action.  I  saw  Mr. 
Lucas,  Major  Turner,  and  other  friends  and  parties  con- 
nected with  the  road,  who  agreed  that  I  should  go  on.  I  left 
my  family,  because  I  was  under  the  impression  that  I  would 
be  allowed  to  enlist  my  own  regiment,  which  would  take 
some  time,  and  I  expected  to  raise  the  regiment  and  organ- 
ize it  at  Jefferson  Barracks.  I  repaired  to  Washington,  and 
there  found  that  the  Government  was  trying  to  rise  to  a  level 
with  the  occasion.  Mr.  Lincoln  had,  without  the  sanction 
of  law,  authorized  the  raising  of  ten  new  regiments  of  regulars, 
each  infantry  regiment  to  be  composed  of  three  battalions  of 
eight  companies  each;  and  had  called  for  seventy-five  thou- 
sand State  volunteers.  Even  this  call  seemed  to  me  utterly 
inadequate;  still  it  was  none  of  my  business.  I  took  the 
oath  of  office,  and  was  furnished  with  a  list  of  officers,  ap- 
pointed to  my  regiment,  which  was  still  incomplete.  I  re- 
ported in  person  to  General  Scott,  at  his  office  on  Seven- 
teenth Street,  opposite  the  War  Department,  and  applied  for 
authority  to  return  West,  and  raise  my  regiment  at  Jefferson 
Barracks;  but  the  general  said  my  lieutenant-colonel,  Bur- 
bank,  was  fully  qualified  to  superintend  the  enlistment,  and 
that  he  wanted  me  there;  and  he  at  once  dictated  an  order 
for  me  to  report  to  him  in  person  for  inspection  duty. 

"Satisfied  that  I  would  not  be  permitted  to  return  to  St. 
Louis,  I  instructed  Mrs.  Sherman  to  pack  up,  return  to 
Lancaster,  and  trust  to  the  fate  of  war. 

"I  also  resigned  my  place  as  president  of  the  Fifth  Street 
Railroad,  to  take  effect  at  the  end  of  May,  so  that  in  fact  I 
received  pay  from  that  road  for  only  two  months  service, 
and  then  began  my  new  army  career." 

These  were  days  when   events  crowded   each   other   with 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  51 

confusing  rapidity.  General  Sherman  hesitates  to  recall 
those  on  which  have  been  based  unjust  criticism  of  able  and 
courageous  commanders,  but  does  due  justice  to  the  General 
who  planned  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  the  event  which  cast 
such  a  gloom  over  the  North. 

"Patterson's  army  crossed  the  Potomac  River  on  the  ist 
or  2nd  of  July,  and,  as  John  Sherman  was  to  take  his  seat 
as  a  Senator  in  the  called  session  of  Congress,  to  meet  July 
4th,  he  resigned  his  place  as  aid-de-camp,  presented  me  his 
two  horses  and  equipment,  and  we  returned  to  Washington 
together." 

"The  Congress  assembled  punctually  on  the  4th  of  July,  and 
the  message  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  strong  and  good:  it  recog- 
nized the  fact  that  civil  war  was  upon  us,  that  compromise  of 
any  kind  was  at  an  end;  and  he  asked  for  four  hundred  thou- 
sand men,  and  four  hunndred  million  dollars,  wherewith  to 
vindicate  the  national  authority,  and  to  regain  possession' of 
the  captured  forts  and  other  property  of  the  United  States. 

"It  was  also  immediately  demonstrated  that  the  tone  and 
temper  of  Congress  had  changed  since  the  Southern  Senators 
and  members  had  withdrawn,  and  that  we,  the  military, 
could  now  go  to  work  with  some  definite  plans  and  ideas. 

"The  appearance  of  the  troops  about  Washington  was  good, 
but  it  was  manifest  they  were  far  from  being  soldiers.  Their 
uniforms  were  as  various  as  the  States  and  cities  from  which 
they  came;  their  arms  were  also  of  every  pattern  and  caliber; 
and  they  were  so  loaded  down  with  overcoats,  haversacks, 
knapsacks,  tents,  and  baggage,  that  it  took  from  twenty-five 
to  fifty  wagons  to  move  the  camp  of  a  regiment  from  one 
place  to  another,  and  some  of  the  camps  had  bakeries  and 
cooking  establishments  that  would  have  done  credit  to  Del- 
monico. 

"While  I  was  on  duty  with  General  Scott,  viz.,  from  June 


52  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

2Oth  to  about  June  3Oth,  the  general  frequently  communi- 
cated to  those  about  him  his  opinions  and  proposed  plans. 
He  seemed  vexed  with  the  clamors  of  the  press  for  immediate 
action,  and  the  continued  interference  in  details  by  the  Presi- 
dent, Secretary  of  War,  and  Congress.  He  spoke  of  organ- 
izing a  grand  army  of  invasion,  of  which  the  regulars  were  to 
constitute  the 'iron  column,'  and  seemed  to  intimate  that 
he  himself  would  take  the  field  in  person,  though  he  was  at 
the  time  very  old,  very  heavy,  and  very  unwieldy.  His  age 
must  have  been  about  seventy-five  years. 

"At  that  date,  July  4,  1861,  the  rebels  had  two  armies  in 
front  of  Washington;  the  one  at  Manassas  Junction,  com- 
manded by  General  Beauregard,  with  his  advance  guard  at 
Fairfax  Court-House,  and  indeed  almost  in  sight  of  Washing- 
ton. The  other  commanded  by  General  Joe  Johnston,  was  at 
Winchester,  with  its  advance  at  Martinsburg  and  Harper's 
Ferry;  but  the  advance  had  fallen  back  before  Patterson, 
who  then  occupied  Martinsburg  and  the  line  of  the  Balti- 
more &  Ohio  Railroad. 

"The  temper  of  Congress  and  the  people  would  not  permit 
the  slow  and  methodical  preparation  desired  by  General  Scott; 
and  the  cry  of  'On  to  Richmond! '  which  was  shared  by  the 
volunteers,  most  of  whom  had  only  engaged  for  ninety  days, 
forced  General  Scott  to  hasten  his  preparations,  and  to  order 
a  general  advance  about  the  middle  of  July.  McDowell  was 
to  move  from  the  defenses  of  Washington,  and  Patterson 
from  Martinsburg.  In  the  organization  of  McDowell's  army 
into  divisions  and  brigades,  Colonel  David  Hunter  was  as- 
signed to  command  the  Second  Division,  and  I  was  ordered 
to  take  command  of  his  former  brigade,  which  was  composed 
of  five  regiments  in  position  in  and  about  Fort  Corcoran, 
and  on  the  ground  opposite  Georgetown.  I  assumed  com- 
mand on  the  3Oth  of  June,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  prepare 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  53 

it  for  the  general  advance.  My  command  constituted  the 
Third  Brigade  of  the  First  Division,  which  division  was  com- 
manded by  Brigadier-General  Daniel  Tyler,  a  graduate  of 
West  Point,  but  who  had  seen  little  or  no  actual  service.  I 
applied  to  General  McDowell  for  some  staff-officers,  and  he 
gave  me,  as  adjutant-general,  Lieutenant  Piper,  of  the  Third 
Artillery,  and,  as  aide-de-camp,  Lieutenant  McQuesten,  a  fine 
young  cavalry  officer,  fresh  from  West  Point. 

"I  selected  for  the  field  the  Thirteenth  New  York,  Colonel 
Quimby;  the  Sixty-ninth  New  York,  Colonel  Corcoran;  the 
Seventy-ninth  New  York,  Colonel  Cameron,  and  the  Second 
Wisconsin,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Peck.  These  were  all  good, 
strong,  volunteer  regiments,  pretty  well  commanded;  and  I 
had  reason  to  believe  that  I  had  one  of  the  best  brigades  in 
the  whole  army.  Captain  Ayres's  battery  of  the  Third  Reg- 
ular Artillery  was  also  attached  to  my  brigade.  The  other 
regiment,  the  Twenty-ninth  New  York,  Colonel  Bennett, 
was  destined  to  be  left  behind  in  charge  of  the  forts  and 
camps  during  our  absence,  which  was  expected  to  be  short. 
Soon  after  I  had  assumed '  the  command,  a  difficulty  arose 
in  the  Sixty-ninth,  an  Irish  regiment.  This  regiment  had 
volunteered  in  New  York,  early  in  April,  for  ninety  days; 
but,  by  reason  of  the  difficulty  of  passing  through  Baltimore, 
they  had  come  via  Annapolis,  had  been  held  for  duty  on  the 
railroad  as  a  guard  for  nearly  a  month  before  they  actually 
reached  Washington,  and  were  then  mustered  in  about  a 
month  after  enrollment.  Some  of  the  men  claimed  that  they 
were  entitled  to  their  discharge  in  ninety  days  from  the  time 
of  enrollment,  whereas  the  muster-roll  read  ninety  days  from 
the  date  of  muster-in.  One  day,  Colonel  Corcoran  explained 
this  matter  to  me.  I  advised  him  to  reduce  the  facts  to  writ- 
ing, and  that  I  would  submit  it  to  the  War  Department  for 
an  authoritative  decision.  He  did  so,  and  the  War  Depart- 


54  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ment  decided  that  the  muster-roll  was  the  only  contract  of 
service,  that  it  would  be  construed  literally;  and  that  the 
regiment  would  be  held  till  the  expiration  of  three  months 
from  the  date  of  muster-in,  viz.,  to  about  August  I,  1861. 
General  Scott  at  the  same  time  wrote  one  of  his  characteristic 
letters  to  Corcoran,  telling  him  that  we  were  about  to  en- 
gage in  battle,  and  he  knew  his  Irish  friends  would  not  leave 
him  in  such  a  crisis.  Corcoran  and  the  officers  generally 
wanted  to  go  to  the  expected  battle,  but  a  good  many  of  the 
men  were  not  so  anxious.  In  the  Second  Wisconsin,  also, 
was  developed  a  personal  difficulty.  The  actual  colonel  was 
Dr.  Coon,  a  good-hearted  gentleman,  who  knew  no  more  of 
the  military  art  than  a  child;  whereas  his  lieutenant-colonel, 
Peck,  had  been  to  West  Point,  and  knew  the  drill.  Prefer- 
ring that  the  latter  should  remain  in  command  of  the  regi- 
ment, I  put  Colonel  Coon  on  my  personal  staff,  which  recon- 
ciled the  difficulty." 

"In  due  season,  about  July  I5th,  our  division  moved  for- 
ward, leaving  our  camps  standing;  Reyes's  brigade  in  the  lead 
then  Schenck's,  then  mine,  and  Richardson's  last.  We 
marched  via  Vienna,  Germantown,  and  Centreville,  where 
all  the  army,  composed  of  five  divisions,  seemed  to  converge. 
The  march  demonstrated  little  save  the  general  laxity  of 
discipline;  for  with  all  my  personal  efforts  I  could  not  prevent 
the  men  from  straggling  for  water,  blackberries,  or  anything 
on  the  way  they  fancied. 

General  Sherman's  report  gives  his  own  statement  of  his 
part  in  the  first  great  battle  of  the  war. 

HEADQUARTERS  THIRD  BRIGADE,  FIRST  DIVISION,  ) 
FORT  CORCORAN,  July  25,  1861.  j 

"To  Captain  A.    BAIRD,   Assistant  Adjutant-General,   First 
Division  (General  Tyler  s). 
"SIR:      I  have  the  honor  to  submit  this  m*y  report  of  the 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  55 

operations  of  my  brigade  during  the  action  of  the  2ist  in- 
stant. The  brigade  is  composed  of  the  Thirteenth  New  York 
Volunteers,  Colonel  Quimby;  Sixty-ninth  New  York,  Colonel 
Corcoran;  Seventy-ninth  New  York,  Colonel  Cameron;  Sec- 
ond Wisconsin,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Peck;  and  Company  E, 
Third  Artillery,  under  command  of  Captain  R.  B.  Ayres, 
Fifth  Artillery.  We  left  our  camp  near  Centreville,  pursu- 
ant to  orders,  at  half-past  2  A.  M.,  taking  place  in  your  col- 
umn, next  to  the  brigade  of  General  Schenck,  and  proceeded 
as  far  as  the  halt,  before  the  enemy's  position,  near  the 
stone  bridge  across  Bull  Run.  Here  the  brigade  was  de- 
ployed in  line  along  the  skirt  of  timber  to  the  right  of  the 
Warrenton  road,  and  remained  quietly  in  position  till  after  10 
A.  M.  The  enemy  remained  very  quiet,  but  about  that  time 
we  saw  a  rebel  regiment  leave  its  cover  in  our  front,  and  pro- 
ceed in  double-quick  time  on  the  road  toward  Sudley  Springs, 
by  which  we  knew  the  columns  of  Colonels  Hunter  and 
Heintzelman  were  approaching.  About  the  same  time  we 
observed  in  motion  a  large  mass  of  the  enemy,  below  and  on 
the  other  side  of  the  stone  bridge.  I  directed  Captain  Ayres 
to  take  position  with  his  battery  near  our  right,  and  to  open 
fire  on  this  mass;  but  you  had  previously  detached  the  two 
rifle-guns  belonging  to  this  battery,  and,  finding  that  the 
smooth-bore  guns  did  not  reach  the  enemy's  position,  we 
ceased  firing,  and  I  sent  a.  request  that  you  would  send  to  me 
the  thirty-pounder  rifle-gun  attached  to  Captain  Carlisle's 
battery.  At  the  same  time  I  shifted  the  New  York  Sixty- 
ainth  to  the  extreme  right  of  the  brigade.  Thus  we  remained 
till  we  heard  the  musketry-fire  across  Bull  Run,  showing  that 
the  head  of  Colonel  Hunter's  column  was  engaged.  This 
firing  was  brisk,  and  showed  that  Hunter  was  driving  before 
him  the  enemy,  till  about  noon,  when  it  became  certain  the 
enemy  had  come  to  a  stand,  and  that  our  forces  on  the  other 


56  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

side  of  Bull  Run  were  all  engaged,  artillery,  and  infantry, 
"Here  you  sent  me  the  order  to  cross  over  with  the  whole 
brigade,  to  the  assistance  of  Colonel  Hunter.  Early  in  the 
day,  when  reconnoitering  the  ground,  I  had  seen  a  horseman 
descend  from  a  bluff  in  our  front,  cross  the  stream,  and  show 
himself  in  the  open  field  on  this  side;  and,  inferring  that  we 
could  cross  over  at  the  same  point,  I  sent  forward  a  com- 
pany as  skirmishers,  and  followed  with  the  whole  brigade,  the 
New  York  Sixty-ninth  leading. 

"We  found  no  difficulty  in  crossing  over,  and  met  with  no 
opposition  in  ascending  the  steep  bluff  opposite  with  our  in- 
fantry, but  it  was  impassable  to  the  artillery,  and  I  sent  word 
back  to  Captain  Ayres  to  follow  if  possible,  otherwise  to  use 
his  discretion.  Captain  Ayres  did  not  cross  Bull  Run,  but 
remained  on  that  side  with  the  rest  of  your  division.  His 
report  herewith  describes  his  operations  during  the  remainder 
of  the  day.  Advancing  slowly  and  cautiously  with  the  head 
of  the  column,  to  give  time  for  the  regiments  in  succession  to 
close  up  their  ranks,  we  first  encountered  a  party  of  the 
enemy  retreating  along  a  cluster  of  pines;  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Haggerty,  of  the  Sixty-ninth,  without  orders,  rode  out 
alone,  and  endeavored  to  intercept  their  retreat.  One  of 
the  enemy,  in  full  view,  at  short  range,  shot  Haggerty,  and 
he  fell  dead  from  his  horse.  The  Sixty-ninth  opened  fire  on 
this  party,  which  was  returned;  but,  determined  to  effect  our 
junction  with  Hunter's  division,  I  ordered  this  fire  to  cease, 
and  we  proceeded  with  caution  toward  the  field  where  we 
then  plainly  saw  our  forces  engaged.  Displaying  our  colors 
conspicuously  at  the  head  of  our  column,  we  succeeded  in 
attracting  the  attention  of  our  friends,  and  soon  formed  the 
brigade  in  rear  of  Colonel  Porter's.  Here  I  learned  that 
Colonel  Hunter  was  disabled  by  a  severe  wound,  and  that 
General  McDowell  was  on  the  field.  I  sought  him  out,  and 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  57 

received  his  orders  to  join  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  who  was 
falling  back  to  the  left  of  the  road  by  which  the  army  had 
approached  from  Sudley  Springs.  Placing  Colonel  Quimby's 
regiment  of  rifles  in  front,  in  column,  by  division,  I  directed 
the  other  regiments  to  follow  in  line  of  battle,  in  the  order 
of  the  Wisconsin  Second,  New  York  Seventy-ninth,  and  New 
York  Sixty-ninth.  Quimby's  regiment  advanced  steadily 
down  the  hill  and  up  the  ridge,  from  which  he  opened  fire 
upon  the  enemy,  who  had  made  another  stand  on  ground 
very  favorable  to  him,  and  the  regiment  continued  advancing 
as  the  enemy  gave  way,  till  the  head  of  the  column  reached 
the  point  near  which  Rickett's  battery  was  so  severely  cut 
up.  The  other  regiments  descended  the  hill  in  line  of  battle, 
under  a  severe  cannonade;  and,  the  ground  affording  com- 
parative shelter  from  the  enemy's  artillery,  they  changed 
direction,  by  the  right  flank,  and  followed  the  road  before 
mentioned.  At  the  point  where  this  road  crosses  the  ridge 
to  our  left  front,  the  ground  was  swept  by  a  most  severe  fire 
of  artillery,  rifles,  and  musketry,  and  we  saw,  in  succession, 
several  regiments  driven  from  it;  among  them  the  Zouaves 
and  battalion  of  marines.  Before  reaching  the  crest  of  this 
hill,  the  roadway  was  worn  deep  enough  to  afford  shelter, 
and  I  kept  the  several  regiments  in  it  as  long  as  possible;  but 
when  the  Wisconsin  Second  was  abreast  of  the  enemy,  by 
order  of  Major  Wadsworth,  of  General  McDowell's  staff,  I 
ordered  it  to  leave  the  roadway,  by  the  left  flank,  and  to 
attack  the  enemy. 

"This  regiment  ascended  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  steadily, 
received  the  severe  fire  of  the  enemy,  returned  it  with  spirit, 
and  advanced,  delivering  its  fire.  This  regiment  is  uniformed 
in  gray  cloth,  almost  identical  with  that  of  the  great  bulk  of 
the  secession  army;  and,  when  the  regiment  fell  into  confusion 
and  retreated  toward  the  road,  there  was  a  universal  cry  that 


58  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

they  were  being  fired  on  by  our  own  men.  The  regiment  rallied 
again,  passed  the  brow  of  the  hill  a  second  time,  but  was 
again  repulsed  in  disorder.  By  this  time  the  New  York 
Seventy-ninth  had  closed  up,  and  in  like  manner  it  was  or- 
dered to  cross  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  drive  the  enemy  from 
cover.  It  was  impossible  to  get  a  good  view  of  this  ground. 
In  it  there  was  one  battery  of  artillery,  which  poured  an  in- 
cessant fire  upon  our  advancing  column,  and  the  ground  was 
very  irregular  with  small  clusters  of  pines,  affording  shelter, 
of  which  the  enemy  took  good  advantage.  The  fire  of  rifles 
and  musketry  was  very  severe.  The  Seventy-ninth,  headed 
by  its  colonel,  Cameron,  charged  across  the  hill,  and  for  a 
short  time  the  contest  was  severe;  they  rallied  several  times 
under  fire,  but  finally  broke,  and  gained  the  cover  of  the  hill. 

This  left  the  field  open  to  the  New  York  Sixty-ninth,  Colo- 
nel Corcoran,  who,  in  his  turn,  led  his  regiment  over  the  crest 
and  had  in  full  open  view  the  ground  so  severely  contested;  the 
fire  was  very  severe,  and  the  roar  of  cannon,  musketry,  and 
rifles  incessant;  it  was  manifest  the  enemy  was  here  in  great 
force,  far  superior  to  us  at  that  point.  The  Sixty-ninth  held 
the  ground  for  some  time,  but  finally  fell  back  in  disorder. 

"All  this  time  Quimby's  regiment  occupied  another  ridge, 
to  our  left,  overlooking  the  same  field  of  action,  and  similarly 
engaged.  Here,  about  half-past  three  P.  M.  ,  began  the  scene  of 
confusion  and  disorder  that  characterized  the  remainder  of 
the  day.  Up  to  that  time,  all  had  kept  their  places,  and 
seemed  perfectly  cool,  and  used  to  the  shell  and  shot  that 
fell  comparatively  harmless,  all  around  us;  but  the  short 
exposure  to  an  intense  fire  of  small-arms,  at  close  range,  had 
killed  many,  wounded  more,  and  had  produced  disorder  in 
all  of  the  battalions  that  had  attempted  to  encounter  it. 
Men  fell  away  from  their  ranks,  talking,  and  in  great  confu- 
sion. Colonel  Cameron  had  been  mortally  wounded,  was 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  59 

carried  to  an  ambulance,  and  reported  dying.  Many  other 
officers  were  reported  dead  or  missing,  and  many  of  the 
wounded  were  making  their  way,  with  more  or  less  assistance, 
to  the  buildings  used  as  hospitals,  on  the  ridge  to  the  west. 
We  succeeded  in  partially  reforming  the  regiments,  but  it 
was  manifest  that  they  would  not  stand,  and  I  directed  Colo- 
nel Corcoran  to  move  along  the  ridge  to  the  rear,  near  the 
position  where  we  had  first  formed  the  brigade.  General  Mc- 
Dowell was  there  in  person,  and  used  all  possible  efforts  to 
reassure  the  men.  By  the  active  exertions  of  Colonel  Cor- 
coran, we  formed  an  irregular  square  against  the  cavalry 
which  were  then  seen  to  issue  from  the  position  from 
which  we  had  been  driven,  and  we  began  our  retreat  toward 
the  same  ford  of  Bull  Run,  by  which  we  had  approached  the 
field  of  battle.  There  was  no  positive  order  to  retreat,  although 
for  an  hour  it  had  been  going  on  by  the  operation  of  the  men 
themselves.  The  ranks  were  thin  and  irregular,  and  we 
found  a  stream  of  people  strung  from  the  hospital  across  Bull 
Run,  and  far  toward  Centreville.  After  putting  in  motion  the 
irregular  square  in  person,  I  pushed  forward  to  find  Captain 
Ayres's  battery  at  the  crossing  of  Bull  Run.  I  sought  it  at 
its  last  position,  before  the  brigade  had  crossed  over,  but  it 
was  not  there;  then,  passing  through  the  woods,  where,  in 
the  morning,  we  had  first  formed  line,  we  approached  the 
blacksmith's  shop,  but  there  found  a  detachment  of  the  se- 
cession cavalry  and  thence  made  a  circuit,  avoiding  Cub  Run 
Bridge,  into  Centreville,  where  I  found  General  McDowell, 
and  from  him  understood  that  it  was  his  purpose  to  rally  the 
forces,  and  make  a  stand  at  Centreville. 

"But,  about  nine  o'clock  at  night,  I  received  from  General 
Tyler,  in  person,  the  order  to  continue  the  retreat  to  the 
Potomac.  This  retreat  was  by  night,  and  disorderly  in  the 
extreme.  The  men  of  different  regiments  mingled  together, 


6O  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

and  some  reached  the  river  at  Arlington,  some  at  Long  Bridge, 
and  the  greater  part  returned  to  their  former  camp,  at  or 
near  Fort  Corcoran.  I  reached  this  point  at  noon  the  next 
day,  and  found  a  miscellaneous  crowd  crossing  over  the  aque- 
duct and  ferries.  Conceiving  this  to  be  demoralizing,  I  at 
once  commanded  the  guard  to  be  increased,  and  all  persons 
attempting  to  pass  over  to  be  stopped.  This  soon  produced 
its  effect;  men  sought  their  proper  companies  and  regiments. 
Comparative  order  was  restored,  and  all  were  posted  to  the 
best  advantage. 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Colonel  Commanding  Brigade.'1'1 

No  veteran  can  read  these  lines  and  fail  to  understand  what 
Sherman  meant  when  he  said  that  they  brought  back  to  him 
every  scene  and  incident  of  that  terrible  fight.  That  the  re- 
port does  justice  to  those  engaged  is  sustained  by  the  account 
given  by  a  near  friend  of  General  Sherman,  and  who  would 
if  possible  claim  more  for  his  friend.  Colonel  Bowman  has 
given  a  calm  statement  of  the  Bull  Run  battle,  which  was  sin- 
gularly accepted  as  a  rout  by  both  armies,  and  might  have 
been  an  unfortunate  end  of  the  war  if  the  soldiers  had  been  as 
well  prepared  for  service  as  in  later  campaigns.  That  the 
closing  of  the  war  at  this  point  might  have  left  greater  suffer- 
ing for  the  nation  can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  who  carry 
as  memories  the  prevalent  feeling  of  the  day. 

"It  may  be  said,  in  defense  of  the  delusions  of  the  hour, 
that  our  army  was  numerically  stronger,  as  well  officered, 
better  equipped,  and  as  well  instructed  as  the  rebel  forces; 
and  so  indeed  it  was.  But  the  rebel  army  was  to  act  upon 
the  defensive,  ours  upon  the  offensive.  The  advantage  of 
ground  would  be  with  the  enemy,  the  advantage  of  surprise, 
and  the  great  advantage  of  cohesion  at  the  moment  of  attack. 
On  the  other  hand,  our  troops  would  have  to  move,  to  find 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  6l 

the  enemy,  and  to  attack  him  in  his  chosen  position,  or  sus- 
tain his  fire  delivered  from  behind  cover  or  behind  earthworks. 
But  the  salient  point  of  this  question  is,  that  the  result  of 
any  movement,  by  either  side,  was  left  to  chance;  no  man 
could  have  indicated  the  causes  which  would  determine  the 
result.  It  was  purely  chance  whether  any  movement 
ordered  from  headquarters  would  be  made  at  all;  a  rare 
chance  whether  it  would  be  made  at  the  time  designated  in 
orders;  a  miraculous  chance  if  it  were  made  exactly  as  or- 
dered. By  waiting  a  very  little  while,  the  result  might  have 
been  reasonably  assured.  We  could  not  wait.  In  the 
American  character,  Hope  crowds  Patience  to  the  wall. 

"After  much  public  discussion  and  excitement,  the  order 
was  given  to  General  McDowell  to  move  forward. 

"The  enemy  had  a  force  of  about  twenty-two  thousand  men, 
organized  in  eight  brigades,  with  twenty-nine  guns,  encamped 
.and  intrenched  at  Manassas  Junction,  and  commanded  by 
General  Gustave  T.  Beauregard.  'They  had  outposts  at 
Fairfax  Court-house,  and  at  Centreville,  seven  miles  from  the 
Junction.  The  brigades  were  commanded  by  Brigadier- 
Generals  Ewell,  Holmes,  D.  R.  Jones,  Longstreet,  and  Bon- 
ham,  and  Colonels  Cocke,  Evans,  and  Early. 

"General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  at  Winchester,  with  about 
twelve  thousand  men,  watching  our  forces,  under  Major-Gen- 
eral Robert  Patterson,  one  of  the  Pennsylvania  three-months 
militia.  Generals  Bee  and  Bartow  and  Colonel  Jackson 
commanded  the  brigades  of  General  Johnston's  army.  Gen- 
eral Patterson's  force  amounted  to  twenty-three  thousand 
men  of  all  arms,  chiefly  three-months  militia. 

"General  McDowell  was  to  move  directly  upon  Manassas  on 
the  Qth  of  July,  and,  turning  the  enemy's  right  flank,  cut  off 
his  forces  from  Richmond.  The  movement  began  on  the  1 6th. 
The  men,  unaccustomed  to  marching,  moved  very  slowly. 


62  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Long  years  of  peace  had  nourished  in  the  minds  of  our  citi- 
zens a  reluctance  to  endure  pain  and  privation,  and  the  citi- 
zens had  not  become  soldiers  by  a  mere  change  of  clothing. 
The  men  stopped  every  few  moments  to  pick  blackberries, 
stepped  aside  to  avoid  mud-puddles,  crossed  fords  gingerly, 
emptied  their  canteens  and  filled  them  with  fresh  water 
whenever  they  came  to  a  stream.  Thus  the  army  did  not 
reach  Centreville  until  the  night  of  the  i8th.  Two  days 
were  spent  here  in  reconnoissances,  and  on  the  2ist  the  final 
movement  began.  All  this  time  the  enemy,  fully  advised  of 
our  movements  by  the  daily  papers,  was  busily  engaged  in 
concentrating  his  available  forces  to  meet  our  attack.  That 
he  would  do  so  was  obvious.  General  Scott  had  undertaken 
to  guard  against  this,  so  far  as  the  army  under  Johnston  was 
concerned,  by  instructing  General  Patterson  to  observe  him. 
Accordingly,  after  many  delays,  General  Patterson  moved 
from  Martinsburg  to  Bunker  Hill,  nine  miles  from  Winchester, 
and  then  turned  aside  and  marched  to  Charlestown.  At  the 
very  moment  when  Johnston  was  withdrawing  with  all  speed 
from  Winchester,  and  hurrying  to  Beauregard's  aid,  Patterson 
was  retreating  to  the  Potomac. 

"Tyler's  division,  which  had  marched  from  its  camp  near  the 
Chain  Bridge,  on  the  extreme  right  of  our  lines,  by  the  Vienna 
Road,  was  the  first  to  reach  Centreville.  General  Tyler's 
orders  were  to  seize  and  hold  this  position,  but  not  to  bring 
on  an  engagement.  He  had  no  sooner  arrived  there  than, 
elated  at  finding  our  progress  undisputed  by  the  enemy,  he  took 
the  road  to  the  left  and  pushed  on,  with  Richardson's  brigade, 
Ayres'  battery,  and  a  few  cavalry,  to  Blackburn's  Ford, 
where  the  Manassas  and  Centreville  road  crosses  Bull  Run. 
The  ground  on  the  left  bank  of  that  stream  is  just  here  open 
and  gently  undulating;  on  the  other  side  it  becomes  at  once 
heavily  wooded,  and  ascends  rather  abruptly  to  the  elevated 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  63 

plateau  on  which  Manassas  Junction  is  situated.  General 
Tyler  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  enemy  had  not  occupied 
the  left  bank  at  the  ford;  and  still  more,  that  they  permitted 
our  men  to  approach  it  unmolested.  Nor  was  the  enemy  to 
be  seen  on  the  opposite  bank.  He  deployed  the  infantry, 
and  caused  Captain  Ayres  to  open  fire  from  his  battery  on 
the  woods  opposite.  Instantly  a  hot  fire,  as  if  from  four 
thousand  muskets  at  once,  says  the  general,  was  opened  from 
the  woods.  Our  troops  replied  for  a  short  while,  and  then 
retired.  This  movement  was  contrary  to  orders;  had  no  object 
worth  mentioning;  and  its  result  had  a  most  dispiriting  effect 
upon  the  whole  army  of  General  McDowell.  Before  it,  the 
men  had  been  all  enthusiasm.  They  either  would  not  meet 
the  enemy  at  all,  they  dreamed,  or  they  would  whip  him  and 
chase  him  to  Richmond.  The  enemy  had  been  met,  had  not 
fled  at  the  sight  of  us,  and  had  not  been  whipped.  The  en- 
thusiasm, which  had  been  at  the  boiling  point,  was  chilled 
by  a  doubt.  The  delay  of  the  I9th  and  2Oth,  while  wait- 
ing for  the  subsistence  to  come  up,  spread  and  increased  the 
flatness. 

"The  original  plan  was  to  turn  the  enemy's  right,  and  so 
cut  off  his  communication  with  Richmond.  General  McDowell 
had  objected  to  moving  by  his  right  to  turn  the  enemy's  left, 
because  the  movement  would  be  indecisive.  At  the  eleventh 
hour,  this  indecisive  course  was  adopted,  for  the  reasons  that 
the  roads  on  the  left  appeared  impracticable,  that  the  enemy's 
attention  had  been  attracted  to  Blackburn's  Ford  by  the 
blunder  of  the  i8th,  and  that  it  had  now  become  an  object  to 
guard  against  the  expected  arrival  of  Johnston,  by  occupying 
his  line  of  railway  communication. 

"On  the  night  of  Saturday,  the  2Oth  of  July,  General  Mc- 
Dowell issued  his  orders  for  the  attack.  Runyon's  Fourth 
division  was  left  in  the  rear  near  Fairfax  Court-house. 


64  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Tyler's  division — except  Richardson's  brigade,  which  was  to 
remain  at  Blackburn's  Ford  and  report  to  Colonel  Miles — 
was  to  march  at  half-past  two  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning 
down  the  Warrenton  road,  and  threaten  the  Stone  Bridge. 
Schenck's  and  Sherman's  brigades  were  encamped  on  the 
Warrenton  road,  about  a  mile  beyond  Centreville;  Reyes's 
brigade,  which  had  become  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
division,  had  gone  into  camp  half  a  mile  east  of  Centreville. 
Hunter's  division,  which  was  about  a  mile  and  a  half  beyond 
Reyes's  was  to  move  at  two  o'clock,  and  close  up  on  Tyler. 
Heintzelman's  division,  which  was  encamped  on  the  Braddock 
road,  two  miles  east  of  Centreville,  was  to  march  at  half- 
past  two,  and  fall  in  the  rear  of  Hunter.  Under  cover  of 
Tyler's  attack,  Hunter  and  Heintzelman  were  to  move  to  the 
right,  cross  Bull  Run  at  Sudley's  Springs,  and  turn  the 
enemy's  left.  Mile's  division  was  held  in  reserve  at  Centre- 
ville, to  guard  against  a  movement  of  the  enemy  by  Black- 
burn's Ford,  to  cut  off  our  rear. 

"These  dispositions,  except  as  to  Runyon's  division,  were 
well  made.  Had  they  been  executed,  the  result  of  the  day 
must  have  been  very  different. 

"At  a  blacksmith's  shop,  about  a  mile  in  advance  of  Tyler's 
position,  a  branch  road  leads  from  the  Warrenton  pike 
toward  Sudley's  Springs.  If  Tyler  had  marched  boldly  for- 
ward, the  rear  of  his  division  should  have  cleared  that  point, 
in  an  hour,  or,  at  the  very  latest,  in  an  hour  and  a  half. 
This  would  have  enabled  Hunter  to  file  to  the  right,  certainly 
by  four  o'clock.  In  fact,  the  rear  of  Tyler's  division  did  not 
pass  the  junction  of  the  roads  until  half-past  five,  or  fully  an 
hour  and  a  half  later  than  it  should  have  done.  Schenck's 
brigade,  which  led  the  advance,  started  punctually  at  the 
time  fixed  in  orders,  but,  as  General  Tyler  himself  explains, 
he  felt  called  upon  to  move  slowly  and  with  caution,  feeling 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  65 

his  way  down  to  the  Stone  Bridge.  Thus  occurred  a  fatal 
delay. 

"The  head  of  Schenck's  brigade  reached  the  Stone  Bridge 
about  six  o'clock,  and  the  artillery  of  his  and  Sherman's  brig- 
ades opened  fire  about  half  an  hour  later.  Hunter's  division 
could  not  find  the  road  by  which  it  was  to  march,  and  having 
been  led  by  its  guide  by  a  wide  detour  through  the  woods, 
did  not  reach  the  ford  until  between  half-past  nine  and  ten 
o'clock,  and  occupied  more  than  an  hour  in  passing,  so  that 
it  was  after  eleven  o' clock  before  Heintzelman  began  to  cross. 
The  head  of  Hunter's  column  became  engaged  almost  im- 
mediately after  crossing  Bull  Run,  and  drove  the  enemy 
steadily  until  about  noon.  While  Hunter  was  crossing, 
orders  were  sent  to  Tyler  to  press  his  attack.  Colonel  Sher- 
man, with  his  brigade,  accordingly  crossed  Bull  Run  at  a  ford 
just  above  the  Stone  Bridge,  and  pushed  forward  down  the 
Warrenton  road  until  he  joined  the  left  of  Burnside's  brigade 
of  Hunter's  division,  then  hotly  engaged;  Ayres's  battery, 
being  unable  to  cross  the  ford,  was  left  behind.  Sherman 
came  into  action  about  half-past  twelve,  and  was  at  once 
ordered  by  General  McDowell  to  join  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
enemy,  then  falling  back  on  the  left  of  the  Groveton  road. 
Placing  Colonel  Quimby's  Thirteenth  New  York  regiment 
in  front,  in  column  by  division,  Colonel  Sherman  ordered 
the  other  regiments  to  follow  in  line  of  battle,  in  the  order 
of  the  Second  Wisconsin,  Seventy-ninth  New  York  and 
Sixty-ninth  New  York. 

"Thus  far  the  tide  of  success  had  been  unbroken.  Our 
troops  had  effected  the  passage  of  Bull  Run,  had  driven  the 
enemy  before  them  in  confusion  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  we 
had  succeeded  in  uniting  three  divisions  under  the  crest  of  the 
hill  which  was  to  be  the  decisive  point  of  the  battle.  On  the 
left,  Keyes  was  driving  back  the  enemy,  enabling  Schenck 
5 


66  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

to  cross   and  remove   the   obstructions   in   his   front,  and  to 
turn  the  enemy's  right.     The  crisis  was  at  hand." 

"In  his  official  report,  Colonel  Sherman  thus  graphically 
describes  the  operations  of  his  brigade  at  this  time:  'Quimby's 
regiment  advanced  steadily  down  the  hill  and  up  the  ridge, 
from  which  he  opened  fire  upon  the  enemy,  who  had  made 
another  stand  on  ground  very  favorable  to  him;  and  the  regi- 
ment continued  advancing  as  the  enemy  gave  way  till  the 
head  of  the  column  reached  the  point  near  which  Ricketts' 
battery  was  so  severely  cut  up.  The  other  regiments  de- 
scended the  hill  in  line  of  battle,  under  a  severe  cannonading; 
and  the  ground  affording  comparative  shelter  against  the 
enemy's  artillery,  they  changed  direction  by  the  right  flank 
and  followed  the  road  before  mentioned.  At  the  point  where 
this  road  crossed  the  bridge  to  our  left,  the  ground  was  swept 
by  a  most  severe  fire  by  artillery,  rifle,  and  musketry,  and 
we  saw  in  succession  several  regiments  driven  from  it,  among 
them  the  Zouaves  and  battalion  of  Marines.  Before  reaching 
the  crest  of  the  hill  the  roadway  was  worn  deep  enough  to 
afford  shelter,  and  I  kept  the  several  regiments  in  it  as  long 
as  possible;  but  when  the  Wisconsin  Second  was  abreast  of 
the  enemy,  by  order  of  Major  Wadsworth,  of  General  Mc- 
Dowell's staff,  I  ordered  it  to  leave  the  roadway  by  the  left 
flank  and  to  attack  the  enemy.  This  regiment  ascended  to 
the  brow  of  the  hill  steadily,  received  the  severe  fire  of  the 
enemy,  returned  it  with  spirit,  and  advanced,  delivering  its 
fire.  This  regiment  is  uniformed  in  gray  cloth,  almost  iden- 
tical with  that  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  secession  army,  and 
when  the  regiment  fled  in  confusion,  and  retreated  toward 
the  road,  there  was  a  universal  cry  that  they  were  being  fired 
upon  by  our  own  men.  The  regiment  rallied  again,  passed 
the  brow  of  the  hill  a  second  time,  and  was  again  repulsed 
in  disorder.  By  this  time  the  New  York  Seventy-ninth  had 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  67 

closed  up,  and,  in  like  manner,  it  was  ordered  to  cross  the 
brow  of  the  hill  and  drive  the  enemy  from  cover.  It  was 
impossible  to  get  a  good  view  of  the  ground.  In  it  there 
was  one  battery  of  artillery,  which  poured  an  incessant  fire 
upon  our  advancing  column,  and  the  ground  was  irregular, 
with  small  clusters  of  pines,  affording  shelter,  of  which  the 
enemy  took  good  advantage.  The  fire  of  rifles  and  musketry 
was  very  severe.  The  Seventy-ninth,  headed  by  its  colonel 
(Cameron),  charged  across  the  hill,  and,  for  a  short  time,  the 
contest  was  severe.  They  rallied  several  times  under  fire, 
but  finally  broke,  and  gained  the  cover  of  the  hill.  This  left 
the  field  open  to  the  New  York  Sixty-ninth,  Colonel  Corcoran, 
who,  in  his  turn,  led  his  regiment  over  the  crest,  and  had  a 
full,  open  view  of  the  ground  so  severely  contested.  The  firing 
was  very  severe,  and  the  roar  of  cannon,  musketry,  and  rifles 
incessant.  It  was  manifest  the  enemy  was  here  in  great  force, 
far  superior  to  us  at  that  point.  The  Sixty-ninth  held  the 
ground  for  some  time,  but  finally  fell  back  in  disorder. 

"It  was  now  half-past  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The 
men  had  been  up  since  two  in  the  morning,  had  been  on 
their  legs  ever  since,  had  been  engaged  for  four  hours,  and 
had  eaten  nothing.  The  day  was  intensely  hot.  The  troops 
unused  to  any  of  these  things,  were  fagged. 

"There  was  a  slight  lull  on  the  extreme  right.  Porter's  brig- 
ade of  Hunter's  division,  and  Griffin's  and  Ricketts'  bat- 
teries, were  sent  forward  to  occupy  the  crest  of  the  hill,  from 
which  the  enemy  had  been  pushed.  Hardly  had  they  reached 
the  position,  when  a  murderous  volley  was  poured  into  them, 
at  pistol  range,  from  the  clump  of  pines  that  skirted  the  hill. 
Early's  brigade,  of  Johnston's  army,  had  arrived,  and  thrown 
itself  on  our  right  flank.  Our  line  began  to  melt.  The 
movement  was  taken  up  reluctantly  by  some  regiments,  but 
soon  became  general.  The  retreat  became  confused,  and, 


68  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

beyond  Bull  Run,  the  confusion  became  a  rout.  The  en- 
emy did  not  pursue.  That  night,  while  a  council  of  war  was 
discussing  the  expediency  of  holding  Centreville,  the  sea  of 
panic-stricken  fugitives  was  making  for  Washington.  Orders 
were  issued  for  the  coherent  remains  of  the  army  to  follow. 

"Colonel  Sherman  says,  of  his  own  command:  'This  re- 
treat, was  by  night,  and  disorderly  in  the  extreme.  The  men 
of  different  regiments  mingled  together,  and  some  reached 
the  river  at  Arlington,  some  at  Long  Bridge,  and  the  greater 
part  returned  to  their  former  camps  at  or  near  Fort  Corcoran. 
I  reached  this  point  at  noon  next  day,  and  found  a  miscel- 
laneous crowd  crossing  over  the  aqueduct  and  ferries.  Con- 
ceiving this  to  be  demoralizing,  I  at  once  commanded  the 
guard  to  be  increased,  and  all  persons  attempting  to  pass 
over  to  be  stopped.  This  soon  produced  its  effect.  Men 
sought  their  proper  companies,  comparative  order  was  re- 
stored, and  all  are  now  (July  25,)  posted  to  the  best  advan- 
tage/ 

"The  loss  in  Sherman's  brigade  was  one  hundred  and  eleven 
killed,  two  hundred  and  five  wounded,  two  hundred  and 
ninety-three  missing;  total,  six  hundred  and  nine.  Our 
total  loss  in  this  engagement,  exclusive  of  missing,  was  four 
hundred  and  eighty-one  killed,  one  thousand  and  eleven 
wounded.  The  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  in  Sherman's 
brigade  was  nearly  a  fourth  of  that  of  the  entire  army. 
The  enemy  lost,  in  all,  three  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
killed,  fourteen  hundred  and  eighty-nine  wounded,  and 
thirty  missing.  His  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  consider- 
ably greater  than  ours,  but  he  picked  up  many  prisoners 
from  among  the  wounded  and  the  lagging  stragglers. 

"The  prime  causes  which  led  to  this  disgraceful  defeat  are 
to  be  sought  in  the  many  delays  attending  the  commencement 
and  execution  of  the  movement,  in  consequence  of  which 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  69 

our  forces  had  to  contend  with  the  combined  forces  of  Beau- 
regard  and  Johnston. 

"The  panic  which  followed  the  defeat  must  be  traced  to  in- 
ternal defects;  to  the  utter  absence  of  coherence  or  cohesion 
in  the  masses  of  militia;  to  the  want  of  confidence  of  men 
in  their  officers,  of  officers  in  themselves  and  in  their  men; 
to  the  sudden  apparition  of  a  new  and  undefined  terror  in 
place  of  the  confidently  expected  triumph.  The  mass  easily 
became  a  jumbled  crowd  of  individuals,  because  it  had  never 
been  an  army. 

"As  to  the  general  plan  of  campaign,  it  was  certainly  a 
fatal  mistake  that  our  army  clung  to  the  banks  of  the  Poto- 
mac a  long  month  after  it  should  boldly  have  seized  upon 
Centreville  and  Manassas;  and  equally  so,  that  a  force 
of  nearly  eighty  thousand  should  have  been  wasted  by 
breaking  it  up  into  three  fractions,  destined  to  stand  still 
on  exterior  lines,  watching  the  enemy  concentrate  on  the 
key-point. 

"But  the  mortifying  and  humiliating  disaster  was  neces- 
sary, by  crushing  the  shell  at  once,  to  show  us  in  a  moment 
our  weakness  and  utter  want  of  solidity.  Disguised  until 
the  rebellion  had  developed  and  established  its  strength,  the 
disease  would  have  been  incurable.  Laid  bare  at  a  stroke, 
the  reaction  set  in  at  once,  and  the  life  of  the  nation  was 
saved. 

"Trust  in  everything  and  everybody  around  the  Capital 
was  for  the  moment  destroyed.  Major-General  George  B. 
McClellan,  who  had  been  successful  in  his  operations  in 
Western  Virginia,  an  accomplished  officer,  well-known  in  the 
army,  and  possessing  the  confidence  of  the  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral, was  at  once  summoned  to  Washington,  and  assigned  to 
the  command  of  all  the  troops  for  its  defense.  At  the  end 
of  Julv,  he  found  a  few  scattered  regiments  cowering  upon 


7O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

the  banks  of  the  Potomac.  The  militia  went  home.  The 
North  rose.  Four  months  later,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
counted  two  hundred  thousand  soldiers  ready  for  their  work. 
"The  sharpness  with  which  Colonel  Sherman  criticised  the 
conduct  of  some  of  the  officers  and  men  of  his  brigade  at 
Bull  Run,  both  in  his  official  report  and  in  his  free  conversa- 
tions, made  him  many  enemies;  but  the  vigor  he  had  displayed 
on  the  field,  added  to  the  influence  of  his  brother,  the  Hon- 
orable John  Sherman,  led  the  Ohio  delegation  in  Congress 
to  recommend  his  promotion.  He  was  commissioned  as  a 
Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers  on  the  $d  of  August,  1861, 
to  date  back  to  the  i/th  of  May,  as  was  the  custom  at  that 
time.  For  a  short  time  after  this  he  had  command  of  a  brig- 
ade in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  but  early  in  September, 
upon  the  organization  of  the  Department  of  Kentucky,  he 
was  transferred  to  that  theater  of  operations,  and  ordered  to 
report,  as  second  in  command,  to  Brigadier-General  Robert 
Anderson,  who  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  department." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FIGHTING   BY  DIPLOMACY — THE   TRICKS    OF   SECESSIONISTS    FOR 
CONTROLLING    BORDER   STATES — SHERMAN'S    PROMPT- 
NESS SAVES  KENTUCKY  AND  MISSOURI  FROM  THE 
CONSPIRATORS — HIS  SUPERIORS  COULD  NOT 
COMPREHEND  THE  SITUATION. 

The  advice  given  by  Sherman  to  Lincoln  at  his  first  inter- 
view, and  the  prophecy  he  made  in  regard  to  the  struggle 
that  was  sure  to  ensue,  had  been  fully  justified  by  events. 
Even  in  Missouri  it  was  evident  that  the  Union  feeling  was 
not  strong  enough  to  prevent  the  active  operations  of  the 
Secessionists  without  the  support  of  the  Federal  arms.  The 
tricks  by  which  the  extreme  Southern  states  had  been  taken 
out  of  the  Union,  because  of  the  ambition  of  their  leaders, 
had  been  very  successful.  A  new  Confederate  dictionary 
had  been  made;  slavery  was  called  "The  South;"  rebellion  was 
denominated  "Secession;"  the  execution  of  the  Federal  laws, 
" Coercion,"  and  the  desires  of  these  conspirators,  "The  Con- 
stitution." They  proposed  to  overthrow  entirely  the  Federal 
Union  and  establish  a  separate  government.  They  had  pre- 
pared a  new  system  of  logic,  which  was  a  conglomeration  of 
postulates  substituted  for  the  old-fashioned  syllogism,  and 
everything  taken  for  granted  which  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  prove.  Only  let  it  be  admitted  that  where  thirteen 
or  more  parties  have  entered  into  an  agreement  any  one  of 
them  can  withdraw  whenever  he  chooses  without  the  consent 
of  the  others,  and  you  can  prove  anything.  To  one  whose 
mind  is  so  organized  that  he  can  believe  that  statement,  every- 

71 


72  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

thing  will  appear  logical,  and  the  Southern  people  were  taught 
in  this  logic.  It  followed  that  while  those  states  which 
chose  to  secede  could  not  be  rightfully  coerced  to  remain 
in  the  Union,  other  states  which  chose  to  stay  must  be  com- 
pelled to  secede.  This  was  the  logic  of  the  South.  Unex- 
pectedly Kentucky  chose  to  stay  in  the  Union.  The  invent- 
ors of  the  Confederate  dictionary  and  the  Confederate  logic 
hatched  a  new  scheme,  formulated  a  new  lie;  they  called  it 
"Neutrality,"  and  proposed  to  hold  Kentucky  neutral.  Ken- 
tucky was  to  be  neutral  ground  until  the  Confederacy  had 
become  strong  enough  to  swallow  the  State  at  one  bite.  It 
was  to  be  armed  to  resist  invasion  from  the  South  and  from 
the  North  alike.  Beriah  Magoffin,  a  Secessionist,  was  Gov- 
ernor. He  organized  the  State  militia  in  the  interests  of 
Secession,  issuing  a  proclamation  in  which  he  declared  the 
neutrality  of  Kentucky.  A  few  gentlemen  who  had  not  yet 
accepted  the  Confederate  logic  and  retained  their  love  for  the 
Union,  suffered  themselves  to  be  gulled  by  this  pretense, 
and  hoped  for  peace  because  of  that  word,  "neutrality."  The 
names  had  great  influence  at  the  Capitol.  They  were  be- 
lieved at  Washington  to  be  Union  men,  but  there  were  very 
few  unconditional  Union  men  in  Kentucky,  and  their  influ- 
ence was  proportionately  weak.  The  Government  was  at  a 
loss  what  course  to  pursue,  but  the  Secessionists  prepared 
for  war.  Governor  Magomn  called  a  meeting  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  urged  that  body  to  order  a  State  convention  of  all 
the  people  to  consider  the  crisis,  and  what  should  be  the 
policy  of  the  State  under  the  circumstances.  The  State 
Legislature  met  April  28th.  Two  days  after,  the  Governor 
issued  a  proclamation,  practically  declaring  that  Kentucky 
would  remain  neutral  and  prevent  invasion  from  any  quarter. 
Nearly  one  month  later  the  Legislature  resolved  that  the 
Governor's  proclamation  was  not  in  accordance  with  the 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  73 

views  of  the  people.  The  State  Militia  law  was  so  amended 
as  to  require  the  State  Guard  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  Federal  Government.  On  the  24th  of  May,  the  last 
day  of  the  session,  the  Senate  passed  resolutions  declaring: 

"Kentucky  will  not  sever  connection  from  the  National 
Government,  nor  take  up  arms  for  either  belligerent  party, 
but  arm  herself  for  the  preservation  of  peace  within  her  bor- 
ders, and  tender  their  services  as  mediators  to  effect  a  just 
and  honorable  peace."  The  resolutions  were  defeated  in  the 
House  by  a  vote  of  forty-nine  to  forty-three.  The  Secession- 
ists began  to  be  alarmed.  Their  fears  were  not  allayed  when 
the  election  for  members  of  Congress,  held  in  July,  showed 
a  majority  for  the  loyal  Unionist  candidates  of  more  than 
fifty-five  thousand. 

The  Legislature  convened  again  on  the  3rd  of  September. 
The  Federal  Government  had  authorized  Lovell  H.  Rous- 
seau to  raise  a  brigade  of  troops  in  the  State  for  the  Federal 
service,  and  the  Confederate  troops  under  Pollock  had  just 
invaded  the  Commonwealth,  occupying  Hickman,  and  Chalk 
Bluffs.  General  Grant,  who  had  been  watching  these  steps, 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  occupying  Paducah,  but  the 
Secessionists  alarmed  at  this  supported  their  government  in 
a  demand  that  both  belligerents  should  withdraw.  They 
desired  to  frighten  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
while  the  rebel  authorities,  not  being  compelled  to  listen  to 
them,  should  maintain  their  control  of  the  State.  On  the 
nth  the  Legislature  by  a  vote  of  seventy-one  to  twenty-six 
requested  the  Governor  to  order  the  Confederates  troops  to 
leave  the  State.  A  long  contest  ensued;  many  test  resolutions 
being  introduced,  avowing  that  the  neutrality  of  Kentucky  and 
the  rights  of  her  people  had  been  invaded  by  the  so-called 
Confederate  forces,  urging  the  Governor  to  call  out  the  mili- 
tary forces  of  the  State  to  repel  them,  and  invoking  the  assist- 


74  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ance  of  the  Federal  Government  for  that  purpose.  On  the 
test  vote  the  Unionists  outnumbered  their  opponents  by 
sixty-eight  to  twenty-six;  but  the  Governor  promptly  vetoed 
the  resolutions  and  the  Legislature,  as  promptly  repassed 
them  over  his  veto  by  more  than  a  two-thirds  vote. 

At  once  the  Confederates  changed  their  tactics.  Those  who 
had  declared  they  must  go  with  their  Stite,  found  that  this 
obligation  rested  heavily  upon  them  as  they  were  Secession- 
ists at  heart.  Those  who  had  protested  that  it  was  a  crime 
to  coerce  a  state  had  discovered  that  it  was  their  sacred  duty 
to  coerce  Kentucky  to  leave  the  Union.  Confederate  logic 
was  doing  its  work.  Buckner  and  Breckenridge  assumed 
commands  as  general  officers  in  the  Confederate  service  and 
many  of  their  fellow-conspirators  followed. 

On  the  i /th  of  September,  Buckner  seized  a  railway  train 
and  moved  upon  Louisville  from  Bowling  Green.  By  an 
accident  he  was  detained  within  forty  miles  of  the  city,  and 
by  the  time  he  was  ready  to  start,  Rousseau's  brigade  and  a 
battalion  of  home-guards  were  ready  to  oppose  it.  He  then 
abandoned  the  attempt. 

In  obedience  to  the  call  of  the  Legislature  and  by  order 
of  President  Lincoln,  Brigadier-General  Robert  Anderson 
assumed  command  of  the  military  department  of  Kentucky, 
September  21,  1861,  and  began  preparations  for  organizing 
the  full  quota  of  State  troops  that  had  been  called  for  the 
National  defense.  The  invasion  of  the  State  had  stripped 
the  mask  from  the  designs  of  the  Secessionists  and  citizens 
could  no  longer  favor  them  openly.  Recruiting  however 
went  on  slowly  and  meanwhile  at  Bowling  Green  and  Nash- 
ville, Pollock  and  Zollicoffer  were  gathering  large  bodies  of 
rebels  to  invade  and  hold  Kentucky. 

Brigadier-General  Anderson  because  of  ill-health,  found 
that  the  demands  upon  his  strength  by  the  cares  and  respon- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  75 

sibilities  of  his  position  was  dragging  him  down,  and  asked 
the  War  Department  to  relieve  him  from  the  command. 
He  was  promptly  relieved  by  Brigadier-General  Sherman, 
then  in  command  of  a  brigade  at  Lexington.  The  new  com- 
mander evinced  his  usual  tact,  and  energy  in  organizing  his 
department.  He  understood  the  temper  of  the  Southern 
people  and  prepared  his  troops  for  the  bitter  contest  that 
was  to  ensue. 

General  McClellan  had  succeeded  to  the  chief  command  of 
the  army  on  the  first  of  November,  and  immediately  adopted 
a  general  plan  of  campaign,  in  which  the  operations  in  the 
department  of  the  Cumberland  formed  a  co-operative  part  of 
those  of  the  principal  army  on  the  Potomac,  but  the  people 
and  the  press  forced  the  Administration;  they  had  become 
impatient  of  the  general  inactivity  of  the  Federal  forces,  and 
were  demanding  their  advance.  On  the  i6th  of  October, 
the  Secretary  of  War,  Simon  Cameron,  accompanied  by 
Brigadier-General  Lorenzo  Thomas,  Adjutant-General  of  the 
army,  visited  Sherman  at  Louisville  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining by  a  personal  interview  the  exact  condition  of  affairs 
in  that  quarter. 

Sherman  agreed  with  Lieutenant-General  Scott  and  Gen- 
eral McClellan  that  there  was  to  be  no  "little  war,"  and  be- 
lieved with  them,  too,  in  the  necessity  of  immediate,  decisive 
movements  by  armies  large  enough  not  merely  to  advance, 
but  to  end  the  war  at  once.  But  he  did  not  agree  with  Gen- 
eral McClellan  that  it  was  unnecessary  to  school  the  soldiers 
and  prepare  them  for  the  service.  He  had  had  experience 
with  new  troops  and  understood  that  they  would  be  of  little 
use,  as  indeed  they  had  proved  at  Bull  Run.  In  an  interview 
with  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Cameron  asked  Sherman  how 
many  troops  he  would  require  in  his  department.  Sherman 
replied:  "Sixty  thousand  to  drive  the  enemy  out  of  Kentucky; 


76  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

two  hundred  thousand  to  finish  the  war  in  this  section." 
Convinced  of  the  inutility  of  advancing  against  the  enemy 
until  our  strength  would  render  success  decisive,  as  well  as 
reasonably  certain,  while  defeat  would  not  be  fatal,  and 
aware  of  the  ease  with  which  the  enemy,  driven  out  of  the 
State  could  concentrate  and  recuperate  in  Tennessee,  and 
calling  to  his  aid  the  reserves  then  at  his  command,  would 
compel  us  to  summon  to  the  field  at  the  eleventh  hour,  and 
concentrate  upon  an  advanced  and  exposed  position,  a  much 
larger  force  than  would  have  been  required  in  the  first  in- 
stance; perceiving  these  things,  he  could  not  sympathize 
with,  or  even  comprehend  the  spirit  of,  his  superiors,  who 
were  for  present  success,  and  for  trusting  to-morrow  to  the 
future.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Secretary  of  War  and  Adju- 
tant-General could  not  understand  Sherman,  nor  see  the  utility 
of  a  delay  which  they  regarded  as  temporizing.  Looking  at 
the  force  of  the  enemy  then  in  arms  in  Sherman's  immediate 
front,  they  considered  that  he  greatly  overestimated  the 
obtacles  with  which  he  would  have  to  contend.  Calculations 
of  difficulties  seem  to  earnest  men,  to  spring  from  timidity  or 
want  of  zeal.  In  a  few  days  the  report  of  the  Adjutant-Gen- 
eral, embracing  full  particulars  of  the  condition  of  all  the 
Western  armies,  was  given  to  the  public.  In  referring  to 
General  Sherman,  General  Thomas  simply  stated  that  he 
had  said  he  would  require  two  hundred  thousand  men.  Great 
excitement  was  occasioned  in  the  popular  mind.  A  writer 
for  one  of  the  newspapers  declared  that  Sherman  was  crazy. 
Insanity  is  hard  to  prove;  harder  still  to  disprove,  when  the 
suspicion  rests  upon  a  difference  of  opinion;  the  infirmities 
of  great  minds  are  always  fascinating  to  the  masses.  The 
public  seized  upon  the  anonymous  insinuation,  and  accepted 
it  as  a  conclusion. 

On   the  1 2th   of   November  Brigadier-General  Buell  was 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  77 

ordered  by  Major-General  McClellan  to  relieve  Brigadier- 
General  Sherman  from  the  command  of  the  department 
of  the  Cumberland,  and  Sherman  was  ordered  to  report 
to  Major-General  Halleck  in  command  of  the  Department 
of  the  West.  General  Buell  was  granted  strong  rein- 
forcements, enabling  him  to  take  the  offensive  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  winter.  In  these  events  will  be  seen  the 
same  lesson  of  tolerance  for  the  opinions  of  others  that  was 
taught  so  continuously  during  and  after  the  war.  Looking 
back  on  that  time  in  the  light  of  to-day,  Sherman's  views 
seem  to  be  those  which  should  have  been  held  by  every  citi- 
zen, yet,  at  that  time  it  was  difficult  to  believe  that  the  sev- 
enty-five thousand  men  called  for  by  Lincoln  would  not  be 
able  to  subdue  the  Rebellion  and  restore  peace.  But,  having 
these  views  at  the  time,  General  Sherman  was  not  held  in  high 
esteem  at  the  War  Department,  though  he  maintained  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  his  brother  officers.  The  General- 
in-Chief  deemed  that  he  might  be  useful  in  a  subordinate 
capacity,  and  therefore  ordered  him  to  report  to  Halleck. 
Events  proved  that,  instead  of  being  allowed  to  continue  at 
Benton  Barracks  where  he  had  been  assigned  for  duty,  he 
would  outrank  those  who  had  failed  to  recognize  his  great 
ability. 

It  is  difficult  for  readers  of  history  to  comprehend  the 
actions  of  men  in  high  position  during  the  struggle  which 
was  to  decide  the  life  of  the  nation.  It  is  due  to  the  great 
hero,  who  suffered  so  much  and  bore  the  contumely  of  am- 
bitious and  dishonest  men,  to  keep  in  every  record  of  the  early 
days  of  the  war  the  fullest  statement  of  actual  facts,  substan- 
tiated by  such  documentary  evidence  as  will  forever  close  the 
mouths  of  maligners.  No  historian  can  fail  to  understand  with 
what  indignation  the  honest  soldier  listened  to  reports  of 
his  insanity,  based  upon  ignorance  and  hate.  He  knew  what 


78  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

effects  they  must  have  on  his  young  wife  from  whom  he  was 
separated. 

The  Secretary  of  War  had  determined  upon  a  visit  to  the 
Department  of  the  Cumberland,  and  notified  Sherman  of  his 
coming.  Preparations  were  promptly  made  to  receive  the 
Secretary,  and  hopes  of  good  results  were  natural  to  those 
who  had  no  other  thought  in  the  matter  than  faithful  service 
to  the  country.  Of  the  interview  and  its  results  General 
Sherman  has  placed  the  best  record  on  file: 

"After  some  general  conversation,  Mr.  Cameron  called  to 
me,  'Now,  General  Sherman,  tell  us  of  your  troubles. '  I  said 
'I  preferred  not  to  discuss  business  with  so  many  strangers 
present. '  He  said,  'They  are  all  friends,  all  members  of  my 
family,  and  you  may  speak  your  mind  freely  and  without 
restraint.'  I  am  sure  I  stepped  to  the  door,  locked  it  to 
prevent  intrusion,  and  then  fully  and  fairly  represented  the 
state  of  affairs  in  Kentucky,  especially  the  situation  and 
numbers  of  my  troops.  I  complained  that  the  new  levies  of 
Ohio  and  Indiana  were  diverted  east  and  west,  and  we  got 
scarcely  anything;  that  our  forces  at  Nolin  and  Dick  Robin- 
son were  powerless  for  invasion,  and  only  tempting  to  a  gen- 
eral such  as  we  believed  Sidney  Johnston  to  be;  that,  if  John- 
ston chose,  he  could  march  to  Louisville  any  day.  Cameron 
exclaimed:  'You  astonish  me!  Our  informants,  the  Ken- 
tucky Senators  and  members  of  Congress,  claim  that  they 
have  in  Kentucky  plenty  of  men,  and  all  they  want  are  arms 
and  money.'  I  then  said  it  was  not  true;  for  the  young  men 
were  arming  and  going  out  openly  in  broad  daylight  to  the 
rebel  camps,  provided  with  good  horses  and  guns  by  their 
fathers,  who  were  at  best  'neutral;'  and  as  to  arms,  he  had, 
in  Washington,  promised  General  Anderson  forty  thousand 
of  the  best  Springfield  muskets,  instead  of  which  we  had  re- 
ceived only  about  twelve  thousand  Belgian  muskets,  which 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  79 

the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  had  refused,  as  had  also  the 
Governor  of  Ohio,  but  which  had  been  adjudged  good  enough 
for  Kenutcky.  I  asserted  that  volunteer  colonels  raising  regi- 
ments in  various  parts  of  the  State  had  come  to  Louisville 
for  arms,  and  when  they  saw  what  I  had  to  offer  had  scorned 
to  receive  them — to  confirm  the  truth  of  which  I  appealed  to 
Mr.  Guthrie,  who  said  that  every  word  I  had  spoken  was  true, 
and  he  repeated  what  I  had  often  heard  him  say,  that  no 
man  who  owned  a  slave  or  a  mule  in  Kentucky  could  be 
trusted. 

"Mr.  Cameron  appeared  alarmed  at  what  was  said,  and 
turned  to  Adjutant-General  L.  Thomas,  to  inquire  if  he  knew 
of  any  troops  available,  that  had  not  been  already  assigned. 
He  mentioned  Negley's  Pennsylvania  Brigade  at  Pittsburgh, 
and  a  couple  of  other  regiments  that  were  then  en  route  for  St. 
Louis.  Mr.  Cameron  ordered  him  to  divert  these  to  Louis- 
ville, and  Thomas  made  the  telegraphic  orders  on  the  spot. 
He  further  promised,  on  reaching  Washington,  to  give  us 
more  of  his  time  and  assistance. 

"In  the  general  conversation  which  followed,  I  remember 
taking  a  large  map  of  the  United  States,  and  assuming  the 
people  of  the  whole  South  to  be  in  rebellion,  that  our  task 
was  to  subdue  them,  showed  that  McClellan  was  on  the  left, 
having  a  frontage  of  less  than  a  hundred  miles,  and  Fremont 
the  right,  about  the  same;  whereas  I,  the  center,  had  from 
the  Big  Sandy  to  Paducah,  over  three  hundred  miles  of 
frontier;  that  McClellan  had  a  hundred  thousand  men,  Fre- 
mont sixty  thousand,  whereas  to  me  had  only  been  allotted 
about  eighteen  thousand.  I  argued  that,  for  the  purpose  of 
defense,  we  should  have  sixty  thousand  men  at  once,  and  for 
offense,  would  need  two  hundred  thousand,  before  we  were 
done.  Mr.  Cameron,  who  still  lay  on  the  bed,  threw  up  his 
hands  and  exclaimed,  'Great  God!  where  are  they  to  come 


8O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

from?'  I  asserted  that  there  were  plenty  of  men  at  the  North, 
ready  and  willing  to  come,  if  he  would  only  accept  their 
services;  for  it  was  notorious  that  regiments  had  been 
formed  in  all  the  Northwestern  States,  whose  services  had 
been  refused  by  the  War  Department,  on  the  ground  that 
they  would  not  be  needed.  We  discussed  all  these  mat- 
ters fully,  in  the  most  friendly  spirit,  and  I  thought  I  had 
aroused  Mr.  Cameron  to  a  realization  of  the  great  war  that 
was  before  us  and  was  in  fact  upon  us.  I  heard  him  tell 
General  Thomas  to  make  a  note  of  our  conversation,  that 
he  might  attend  to  my  requests  on  reaching  Washington. 
We  all  spent  the  evening  together  agreeably  in  conversa- 
tion, many  Union  citizens  calling  to  pay  their  respects,  and 
the  next  morning  early  we  took  the  train  for  Frankfort;  Mr. 
Cameron  and  party  going  on  to  Cincinnati  and  Washington, 
and  I  to  Camp  Dick  Robinson  to  see  General  Thomas  and 
the  troops  there. 

"I  found  General  Thomas  in  a  tavern,  with  most  of  his 
regiment  camped  about  him.  He  had  sent  a  small  force 
some  miles  in  advance  toward  Cumberland  Gap,  under  Briga- 
dier-General Schoepf.  Remaining  there  a  couple  of  days  I 
returned  to  Louisville;  on  the  22nd  of  October,  General 
Negley's  brigade  arrived  in  boat  from  Pittsburgh,  was  sent  out 
to  Camp  Nolin;  and  the  Thirty-seventh  Indiana,  Colonel 
Hazzard,  and  Second  Minnesota,  Colonel  Van  Cleve,  also 
reached  Louisville  by  rail,  and  were  posted  at  Elizabethtown 
and  Lebanon  Junction.  These  were  the  same  troops  which 
had  been  ordered  by  Mr.  Cameron  when  at  Louisville,  and 
they  were  all  that  I  received  thereafter,  prior  to  my  leaving 
Kentucky.  On  reaching  Washington,  Mr.  Cameron  called  on 
General  Thomas,  as  he  himself  afterward  told  me,  to  submit 
his  memorandum  of  events  during  his  absence,  and  in  that 
memorandum  was  mentioned  my  insane  request  for  two  hun- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  8 1 

dred  thousand  men.  By  some  newspaper  man  this  was  seen 
and  published,  and,  before  I  had  the  least  conception  of  it, 
I  was  universally  published  throughout  the  country  as  *  in- 
sane, crazy, '  etc.  Without  any  knowledge,  however,  of  this 
fact,  I  had  previously  addressed  to  the  Adjutant-General  of 
the  army  at  Washington  this  letter: 

"HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND,  ) 
LOUISVILLE,  KENTUCKY,  October  22,  1861.       f 

"To  General  L.  THOMAS  Adjutant-General,  Washington, 
D.  C. 

"Sm:  On  my  arrival  at  Camp  Dick  Robinson,  I  found 
General  Thomas  had  stationed  a  Kentucky  regiment  at  Rock 
Castle  Hill,  beyond  a  river  of  the  same  name,  and  had  sent 
an  Ohio  and  an  Indiana  regiment  forward  in  support.  He 
was  embarrassed  for  transportation,  and  I  authorized  him  to 
hire  teams,  and  to  move  his  whole  force  nearer  to  his  ad- 
vance-guard, so  as  to  support  it,  as  he  had  information  of  the 
approach  of  Zollicoffer  toward  London.  I  have  just  heard 
from  him,  that  he  had  sent  forward  General  Schoepf  with 
Colonel  Wolford's  cavalry,  Colonel  Steadman's  Ohio  regi- 
ment, and  a  battery  of  artillery,  followed  on  a  succeeding  day 
by  a  Tennessee  brigade.  He  had  still  two  Kentucky  regi- 
ments, the  Thirty-eighth  Ohio  and  another  battery  of  artillery, 
with  which  he  was  to  follow  yesterday.  This  force,  if  con- 
centrated, should  be  strong  enough  for  the  purpose;  at  all 
events,  it  is  all  he  had  or  I  could  give  him. 

"I  explained  to  you  fully,  when  here,  the  supposed  position 
of  our  adversaries,  among  which  was  a  force  in  the  valley  of 
Big  Sandy,  supposed  to  be  advancing  on  Paris,  Kentucky. 
General  Nelson  at  Maysville  was  instructed  to  collect  all  the 
men  he  could,  and  Colonel  Gill's  regiments  of  Ohio  Volun- 
teers. Colonel  Harris  was  already  in  position  at  Olympian 
6 


82  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Springs,  and  a  regiment  lay  at  Lexington,  which  I  ordered 
to  his  support.  This  leaves  the  line  of  Thomas'  operations 
exposed,  but  I  cannot  help  it.  I  explained  so  fully  to  your- 
self and  the  Secretary  of  War  the  condition  of  things,  that  I 
can  add  nothing  new  until  further  developments.  You  know 
my  views  that  this  great  center  of  our  field  is  too  weak,  far 
too  weak,  and  I  have  begged  and  implored  till  I  dare  not  say 
more. 

"Buckner  still  is  beyond  Green  River.  He  sent  a  detach- 
ment of  his  men,  variously  estimated  at  from  two  to 
four  thousand  toward  Greensburg.  General  Ward  with 
about  one  thousand  men,  retreated  to  Campbellsburg,  where 
he  called  to  his  assistance  some  partially-formed  regiments 
to  the  number  of  about  two  thousand.  The  enemy  did  not 
advance,  and  General  Ward  was  at  last  dates  at  Campbells- 
burg.  The  officers  charged  with  raising  regiments  must  of 
necessity  be  near  their  homes  to  collect  men,  and  for  this 
reason  are  out  of  position;  but  at  or  near  Greensburg  and 
Lebanon,  I  desire  to  assemble  as  large  a  force  of  the  Ken- 
tucky Volunteers  as  possible.  This  organization  is  necessarily 
irregular,  but  the  necessity  is  so  great  that  I  must  have  them, 
and  therefore  have  issued  to  them  arms  and  clothing  during 
the  process  of  formation.  This  has  facilitated  their  enlist- 
ment; but  inasmuch  as  the  Legislature  has  provided  money 
for  organizing  the  Kentucky  Volunteers,  and  intrusted  its 
disbursment  to  a  board  of  loyal  gentlemen,  I  have  endeavored 
to  co-operate  with  them  to  hasten  Ihe  formation  of  these 
corps. 

"The  great  difficulty  is,  and  has  been,  that  as  volunteers 
offer,  we  have  not  arms  and  clothing  to  give  them.  The 
arms  sent  us  are,  as  you  already  know,  European  muskets  of 
uncouth  pattern,  which  the  volunteers  will  not  touch. 

"General    McCook    has  now  three    brigades — Johnson's, 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  83 

Wood's  and  Rousseau's.  Negley's  brigade  arrived  to-day 
and  will  be  sent  out  at  once.  The  Minnesota  regiment  has 
also  arrived,  and  will  be  sent  forward.  Hazzard's  regiment 
of  Indiana  troops  I  have  ordered  to  the  mouth  of  Salt  Creek, 
an  important  point  on  the  turnpike  road  leading  to  Elizabeth- 
town. 

"I  again  repeat  that  our  force  here  is  out  of  all  proportion  to 
the  importance  of  the  position.  Our  defeat  would  be  disas- 
trous to  the  nation  and  to  expect  of  new  men,  who  have 
never  bore  arms,  to  do  miracles,  is  not  right. 

"I  am,  with  much   respect,  yours  truly, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Brigadier-General  Commanding" 

"About  this  time  my  attention  was  drawn  to  the  publica- 
tion in  all  the  Eastern  papers,  which  of  course  was  copied 
at  the  West,  of  the  report  that  I  was  'crazy,  insane,  and 
mad,'  that  'I  had  demanded  two  hundred  thousand  men 
for  the  defense  of  Kentucky;'  and  the  authority  given  for 
the  report  was  stated  to  be  the  Secretary  of  War  himself, 
Mr.  Cameron,  who  never,  to  my  knowledge,  took  pains  to 
affirm  or  deny  it.  My  position  was  therefore  simply  unbear- 
able, and  it  is  probable  I  resented  the  cruel  insult  with  lan- 
guage of  intense  feeling.  Still  I  received  no  orders,  no  re- 
enforcements,  not  a  word  of  encouragement  or  relief .  About 
November  I,  General  McClellan  was  appointed  comman- 
der-in-chief  of  all  the  armies  in  the  field,  and  by  telegraph 
called  for  a  report  from  me.  It  is  herewith  given: 

"HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND,  ) 
LOUISVILLE,  KENTUCKY,  November  4,  1861.       ( 

"Generally.   THOMAS,  Adjutant-General,  Washington,  D.  C. 
"SiR:     In  compliance  with  the  telegraphic  orders  of  General 
McClellan,  received  late  last  night,  I   submit  this  report  of 
the  forces  in  Kentucky,  and  of  their  condition. 


84  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

"The  tabular  statement  shows  the  position  of  the  several 
regiments.  The  camp  at  Nolin  is  at  the  present  extremity 
of  the  Nashville  Railroad.  This  force  was  thrown  forward 
to  meet  the  advance  of  Buckner's  army,  which  then  fell  back 
to  Green  River,  twenty-three  miles  beyond.  These  regi- 
ments were  substantially  without  means  of  transportation, 
other  than  the  railroad,  which  is  guarded  at  all  dangerous 
points,  yet  is  liable  to  interruption  at  any  moment,  by  the 
tearing  up  of  a  rail  by  the  disaffected  inhabitants  or  a  hired 
enemy.  These  regiments  are  composed  of  good  materials, 
but  devoid  of  company  officers  of  experience,  and  have  been 
put  under  thorough  drill  since  being  in  camp.  They  are 
generally  well-clad,  and  provided  for.  Beyond  Green  River, 
the  enemy  has  masked  his  forces,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to 
ascertain  even  the  approximate  numbers.  No  pains  have 
been  spared  to  ascertain  them,  but  without  success,  and  it  is 
well  known  that  they  far  outnumber  us.  Depending,  how- 
ever, on  the  railroads  to  their  rear  for  transportation,  they 
have  not  thus  far  advanced  this  side  of  Green  River,  ex- 
cept in  marauding  parties.  This  is  the  proper  line  of  ad- 
vance, but  will  require  a  very  large  force,  certainly  fifty 
thousand  men,  as  their  railroad  facilities  south  enable  them 
to  concentrate  at  Munfordsville  the  entire  strength  of  the 
South.  General  McCook's  command  is  divided  into  four 
brigades,  under  Generals  Wood,  R.  W.  Johnson,  Rousseau 
and  Negley. 

"General  Thomas's  line  of  operations  is  from  Lexington, 
toward  Cumberland  Gap  and  Ford,  which  are  occupied  by 
a  force  of  rebel  Tennesseeans,  under  the  command  of 
Zollicoffer.  Thomas  occupies  the  position  at  London, 
in  front  of  two  roads  which  lead  to  the  fertile  part  of 
Kentucky,  the  one  by  Richmond,  and  the  other  by  Crab 
Orchard,  with  his  reserve  at  Camp  Dick  Robinson,  eight  miles 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN.  8$ 

south  of  the  Kentucky  River.  His  provisions  and  stores  go 
by  railroad  from  Cincinnati  to  Nicholasville,  and  thence  in 
wagons  to  his  several  regiments.  He  is  forced  to  hire  trans- 
portation. 

"Brigadier-General  Nelson  is  operating  by  the  line  from 
Olympian  Springs,  east  of  Paris,  on  the  Covintgon  &  Lexing- 
ton Railroad,  toward  Prestonburg,  in  the  valley  of  the  Big 
Sandy,  where  is  assembled  a  force  of  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty-five  hundred  rebel  Kentuckians  waiting  re-enforcements 
from  Virginia.  My  last  report  from  him  was  to  October 
28,  at  which  time  he  had  Colonel  Harris'  Ohio  Second, 
nine  hundred  strong;  Colonel  Norton's  Twenty-first  Ohio, 
one  thousand;  and  Colonel  Sill's  Thirty-third  Ohio,  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  strong;  with  two  irregular  Kentucky  regi- 
ments, Colonels  Marshall  and  Metcalf.  These  troops  were 
on  the  road  near  Hazel  Green  and  West  Liberty,  advancing 
toward  Prestonburg. 

"Upon  an  inspection  of  the  map,  you  will  observe  these 
are  all  vergent  lines,  but  rendered  necessary,  from  the 
fact  that  our  enemies  choose  them  as  places  of  refuge  from 
pursuit,  where  they  can  receive  assistance  from  neighboring 
States.  Our  lines  are  all  too  weak,  probably  with  the  ex- 
ception of  that  to  Prestonburg.  To  strengthen  these,  I  am 
thrown  on  the  raw  levies  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  who  arrive  in 
detachments,  perfectly  fresh  from  the  country,  and  loaded 
down  with  baggage;  also  upon  the  Kentuckians,  who  are 
slowly  forming  regiments  all  over  the  State,  at  points  remote 
from  danger,  and  whom  it  will  be  almost  impossible  to 
assemble  together.  The  organization  of  this  latter  force, 
is,  by  the  laws  of  Kentucky,  under  the  control  of  a  military 
board  of  citizens,  at  the  capital,  Frankfort,  and  they  think 
they  will  be  enabled  to  have  fifteen  regiments  toward  the 
middle  of  this  month,  but  I  doubt  it,  and  deem  it  unsafe 


86  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

to  rely  on  them.  There  are  four  regiments  forming  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Owensboro',  near  the  mouth  of  Green  River, 
who  are  doing  good  service,  also  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Campbellsville,  but  it  is  unsafe  to  rely  on  troops  so  suddenly 
armed  and  equipped.  They  are  not  yet  clothed  or  uniformed. 

"I  know  well  you  will  think  our  force  too  widely  distributed, 
but  we  are  forced  to  it  by  the  attitude  of  our  enemies,  whose 
force  and  numbers  the  country  never  has,  and  probably  never 
will,  comprehend. 

"I  am  told  that  my  estimate  of  troops  needed  for  this  line, 
viz.,  two  hundred  thousand,  has  been  construed  to  my  preju- 
dice, and  therefore  leave  it  for  the  future.  This  is  the  great 
center  on  which  our  enemies  can  concentrate  whatever  force 
is  not  employed  elsewhere.  Detailed  statement  of  present 
force  inclosed  with  this. 

"With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant. 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Brigadier-General  commanding" 

"And,  in  order  to  conclude  this  subject,  I  also  add  copies  of 
two  telegraphic  dispatches,  sent  for  General  McClellan's  use 
about  the  same  time,  which  are  all  the  official  letters  received 
at  his  headquarters,  as  certified  by  the  Adjutant-General,  L. 
Thomas,  in  a  letter  of  February  I,  1862,  in  answer  to  an 
application  of  my  brother,  Senator  John  Sherman,  and  on 
which  I  was  adjudged  insane: 

"LOUISVILLE,  November  3,  10  p.  M. 
"  To  General  McCLELLAN,    Washington,  D.  C. 

"Dispatch  just  received.  We  are  forced  to  operate  on 
three  lines,  all  dependent  on  railroads  of  doubtful  safety, 
requiring  strong  guards.  From  Paris  to  Prestonburg,  three 
Ohio  regiments  and  some  militia — enemy  variously  reported 
from  thirty-five  hundred  to  seven  thousand.  From  Lexington 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  87 

toward  Cumberland  Gap,  Brigadier-General  Thomas,  one 
Indiana  and  five  Ohio  regiments,  two  Kentucky  and  one 
Tennessee;  hired  wagons  and  badly  clad.  Zollicoffer,  at 
Cumberland  Ford,  about  seven  thousand.  Lee  reported  on 
the  way  with  Virginia  re-enforcements.  In  front  of  Louis- 
ville, fifty-two  miles,  McCook,  with  four  brigades  of  about 
thirteen  thousand,  with  four  regiments  to  guard  the  railroad, 
at  all  times  in  danger.  Enemy  along  the  railroad  from  Green 
River,  to  Bowling  Green,  Nashville,  and  Clarksville,  Buckner, 
Hardee,  Sidney  Johnston,  Polk,  and  Pillow,  the  two  former 
in  immediate  command,  the  force  as  large  as  they  want  or  can 
subsist,  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  thousand.  Bowling  Green 
strongly  fortified.  Our  forces  too  small  to  do  good,  and  too 
large  to  sacrifice.  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Brigadier-General" 

"HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND.  ) 
LOUISVILLE,  KENTUCKY,  November,  6.  1861,    ) 

"General  L.  THOMAS,  Adjutant-General. 

"SiR:  General  McClellan  telegraphs  me  to  report  to  him 
daily  the  situation  of  affairs  here.  The  country  is  so  large 
that  it  is  impossible  to  give  clear  and  definite  views.  Our 
enemies  have  terrible  advantage  in  the  fact  that  in  our  midst, 
in  our  camps,  and  along  our  avenues  of  travel,  they  have 
active  partisans,  farmers  and  business-men,  who  seemingly 
pursue  their  usual  calling,  but  are  in  fact  spies.  They  report  all 
our  movements  and  strength,  while  we  can  procure  informa- 
tion only  by  circuitous  and  unreliable  means.  I  enclose  you 
the  copy  of  an  intercepted  letter,  which  is  but  the  type  of 
others.  Many  men  from  every  part  of  the  State  are  now  en- 
rolled under  Buckner — have  gone  to  him — while  ours  have  to 
be  raised  in  a  neighborhood,  and  cannot  be  called  together 
except  at  long  notice.  These  volunteers  are  being  organized 
under  the  laws  of  the  State,  and  the  loth  of  November  is 


88  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

fixed  for  the  time  of  consolidating  them  into  companies  and 
regiments.  Many  of  them  are  armed  by  the  United  States 
as  home  guards,  and  many  by  General  Anderson  and  myself, 
because  of  the  necessity  of  being  armed  to  guard  their  camps 
against  internal  enemies.  Should  we  be  overwhelmed,  they 
would  scatter,  and  their  arms  and  clothing  will  go  to  the 
enemy,  furnishing  the  very  material  they  so  much  need. 
We  should  have  here  a  very  large  force,  sufficient  to  give 
confidence  to  the  Union  men  of  the  ability  to  do  what  should 
be  done — possess  ourselves  of  all  the  State,  But  all  see  and 
feel  we  are  brought  to  a  stand-still,  and  this  produces  doubt 
and  alarm.  With  our  present  force  it  would  be  simple  mad- 
ness to  cross  Green  River,  and  yet  hesitation  may  be  as  fatal. 
In  like  manner  the  other  columns  are  in  peril,  not  so  much 
in  front  as  rear,  the  railroads  over  which  our  stores  must  pass 
being  much  exposed.  I  have  the  Nashville  Railroad  guarded 
by  three  regiments,  yet  it  is  far  from  being  safe;  and,  the 
moment  actual  hostilities  commence,  these  roads  will  be  in- 
terrupted, and  we  will  be  in  a  dilemma.  To  meet  this  in 
part  I  have  put  a  cargo  of  provisions  at  the  mouth  of  Salt 
River,  guarded  by  two  regiments.  All  these  detachments 
weaken  the  main  force,  and  endanger  the  whole.  Do  not 
conclude  as  before,  that,  I  exaggerate  the  facts.  They  are 
as  stated,  and  the  future  looks  as  dark  as  possible.  It  would 
be  better  if  some  man  of  sanguine  mind  were  here,  for  I  am 
forced  to  order  according  to  my  convictions. 

"Yours  truly,  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

'•''Brigadier-General  Commanding" 

"After  the  war  was  over,  General  Thomas  J.  Wood,  then 
in  command  of  the  district  of  Vicksburg,  prepared  a  state- 
ment, addressed  to  the  public,  describing  the  interview  with 
the  Secretary  of  War,  which  he  calls  a  'Council  of  War.* 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN.  89 

I  did  not  then  deem  it  necessary  to  renew  a  matter  which 
had  been  swept  to  oblivion  by  the  war  itself;  but,  as  it  is 
evidence  by  an  eye-witness,  it  is  worthy  of  insertion  here. 

On  the  nth  of  October,  1861,  the  writer  who  had  been 
personally  on  mustering  duty  in  Indiana,  was  appointed  a 
Brigadier-General  of  volunteers,  and  ordered  to  report  to 
General  Sherman,  then  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the 
Cumberland,  with  his  headquarters  at  Louisville,  having  suc- 
ceeded General  Robert  Anderson.  When  the  writer  was 
about  leaving  Indianapolis  to  proceed  to  Louisville,  Mr. 
Cameron,  returning  from  his  famous  visit  of  inspection  to 
General  Fremont's  department,  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  ar- 
rived at  Indianapolis,  and  announced  his  intention  to  visit 
General  Sherman. 

"The  writer  was  invited  to  accompany  the  party  to  Louis- 
ville. Taking  the  early  morning  train  from  Indianapolis  to 
Louisville  on  the  i6th  of  October,  1861,  the  party  arrived  in 
Jeffersonville  shortly  after  mid-day,  General  Sherman  met 
the  party  in  Jeffersonville,  and  accompanied  it  to  the  Gait 
House,  in  Louisville,  the  hotel  at  which  he  was  stopping. 

" '  During  the  afternoon  General  Sherman  informed  the  writer 
that  a  council  of  war  was  to  be  held  immediately  in  his  pri- 
vate room  in  the  hotel,  and  desired  him  to  be  present  at  the 
council.  General  Sherman  and  the  writer  proceeded  directly 
to  the  room.  The  writer  entered  the  room  first,  and  ob- 
served in  it  Mr.  Cameron,  Adjutant-General  L.  Thomas,  and 
some  other  persons,  all  of  whose  names  he  did  not  know 
but  whom  he  recognized  as  being  of  Mr.  Cameron's  party. 
The  name  of  one  of  the  party  the  writer  had  learned,  which 
he  remembers  as  Wilkinson,  or  Wilkerson,  and  who  he  un- 
derstood was  a  writer  for  the  New  York  Tribune  newspaper. 
Hon.  James  Guthrie  was  also  in  the  room,  having  been  in- 
vited, on  account  of  his  eminent  position  as  a  citizen  of  Ken- 


9O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

tucky,  his  high  civic  reputation,  and  his  well-known  devotion 
to  the  Union,  to  meet  the  Secretary  of  War  in  the  council. 
When  General  Sherman  entered  the  room  he  closed  the  door, 
and  turned  the  key  in  the  lock. 

"'Before  entering  on  the  business  of  the  meeting,  General 
Sherman  remarked  substantially:  "Mr.  Cameron,  we  have 
met  here  to  discuss  matters  and  interchange  views  which 
should  be  known  only  by  persons  high  in  the  confidence  of 
the  Government.  There  are  persons  present  whom  I  do  not 
know;  and  I  desire  to  know,  before  opening  the  business  of 
the  council,  whether  they  are  persons  who  may  be  properly 
allowed  to  hear  the  views  which  I  have  to  submit  to  you." 
Mr.  Cameron  replied,  with  some  little  testiness  of  manner, 
that  the  person  referred  to  belonged  to  his  party,  and  there 
was  no  objection  to  their  knowing  whatever  might  be  com- 
municated to  him. 

"'Certainly  the  legitimate  and  natural  conclusion  from  this 
remark  of  Mr.  Cameron's  was  that  whatever  views  might  be 
submitted  by  General  Sherman  would  be  considered  under 
the  protection  of  the  seal  of  secrecy,  and  would  not  be 
divulged  to  the  public  till  all  apprehension  of  injurious  conse- 
quences from  such  disclosure  had  passed.  And  it  may  be  re- 
marked, further,  that  justice  to  General  Sherman  required  that 
if,  at  any  future  time,  his  conclusions  as  to  the  amount  of  force 
necessary  to  conduct  the  operations  committed  to  his  charge 
should  be  made  public,  the  grounds  on  which  his  conclusions 
were  based  should  be  made  public  at  the  same  time. 

"'Mr.  Cameron  then  asked  General  Sherman,  what  his  plans 
were.  To  this  General  Sherman  replied  that  he  had  no  plans; 
that  no  sufficient  force  had  been  placed  at  his  disposition 
with  which  to  devise  any  plan  of  operations;  that  before  a  com- 
manding general  could  project  a  plan  of  campaign,  he  must 
know  what  amount  of  force  he  would  have  to  operate  with. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  9 1 

"'The  general  added  that  he  had  views  which  he  would  be 
happy  to  submit  for  the  consideration  of  the  Secretary.  Mr. 
Cameron  desired  to  hear  General  Sherman's  views. 

"'  General  Sherman  began  by  giving  his  opinion  of  the  people 
of  Kentucky,  and  the  condition  of  the  State.  He  remarked 
that  he  believed  a  very  large  majority  of  the  people  of  Ken- 
tucky were  thoroughly  devoted  to  the  Union,  and  loyal  to  the 
Government,  and  that  the  Unionists  embraced  almost  all  the 
older  and  more  substantial  men  in  the  State;  but,  unfortu- 
nately, there  was  no  organization  nor  arms  among  the  Union 
men;  that  the  Rebel  minority,  thoroughly  vindictive  in  its 
sentiments,  was  organized  and  armed  (this  having  been  done 
in  advance  by  their  leaders),  and,  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
Federal  forces,  overawed  and  prevented  the  Union  men  from 
organizing;  that,  in  his  opinion,  if  Federal  protection  were 
extended  throughout  the  State  to  the  Union  men,  a  large 
force  could  be  raised  for  the  service  of  the  Government. 

"'  General  Sherman  next  presented  a  resume  of  the  informa- 
tion in  his  possession  as  to  the  number  of  the  Rebel  troops  in 
Kentucky.  Commencing  with  the  force  at  Columbus,  Ken- 
tucky, the  reports  varied,  giving  the  strength  from  ten  to 
twenty  thousand.  It  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral  Polk.  General  Sherman  fixed  it  at  the  lowest  estimate; 
say,  ten  thousand.  The  force  at  Bowling  Green,  commanded 
by  General  A.  S.  Johnston,  supported  by  Hardee,  Buckner, 
and  others,  was  variously  estimated  at  from  eighteen  to  thirty 
thousand.  General  Sherman  estimated  this  force  at  the 
lowest  figures,  given  to  it  by  his  information — eighteen 
thousand. 

"'He  explained  that,  for  purposes  of  defense,  these  two  forces 
ought,  owing  to  the  facility  with  which  troops  might  be  trans- 
ported from  one  to  the  other,  by  the  net-work  of  railroads  in 
Middle  and  West  Tennessee,  to  be  considered  almost  as  one. 


92  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

General  Sherman  remarked,  also,  on  the  facility  with  which 
re-enforcements  would  be  transported  by  railroad  to  Bowling 
Green,  from  the  other  rebellious  states. 

"'The  third  organized  body  of  Rebel  troops  was  in  Eastern 
Kentucky,  under  General  Zollicoffer,  estimated,  according  to 
the  most  reliable  information,  at  six  thousand  men.  This  force 
threatened  a  descent,  if  unrestrained,  on  the  blue-grass  region 
of  Kentucky,  including  the  cities  of  Lexington,  and  Frankfort, 
the  capital  of  the  State;  and  if  successful  in  its  primary  move- 
ments, as  it  would  gather  head  as  it  advanced,  might  endan- 
ger the  safety  of  Cincinnati. 

"'General  Sherman  said  that  the  information  in  his  posses- 
sion indicated  an  intention,  on  the  part  of  the  Rebels,  of  a 
general  and  grand  advance  toward  the  Ohio  River.  He  fur- 
ther expressed  the  opinion  that,  if  such  advance  should  be 
made,  and  not  checked,  the  Rebel  force  would  be  swollen  by 
at  least  twenty  thousand  recruits  from  the  disloyalists  in  Ken- 
tucky. His  low  computation  of  the  organized  Rebel  soldiers 
then  in  Kentucky  fixed  the  strength  at  about  thirty-five 
thousand.  Add  twenty  thousand  for  re-enforcements  gained 
in  Kentucky,  to  say  nothing  of  troops  drawn  from  other 
Rebel  States,  and  the  effective  Rebel  force  in  the  State,  at  a 
low  estimate,  would  be  fifty-five  thousand  men. 

"'General  Sherman  explained  forcibly  how  largely  the  diffi- 
culties of  suppressing  the  Rebellion  would  be  enhanced,  if 
the  Rebels  should  be  allowed  to  plant  themselves  firmly,  with 
strong  fortifications,  at  commanding  points  on  the  Ohio 
River.  It  would  be  facile  for  them  to  carry  the  war  thence 
into  the  loyal  states  north  of  the  river. 

"'To  resist  an  advance  of  the  Rebels,  General  Sherman 
stated  that  he  did  not  have  at  that  time  in  Kentucky  more 
than  some  twelve  to  fourteen  thousand  effective  men  The 
bulk  of  this  force  was  posted  at  Camp  Nolin,  on  the  Louis- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  93 

ville  &  Nashville  Railway,  fifty  miles  south  of  Louisville.  A 
part  of  it  was  in  Eastern  Kentucky,  under  General  George 
H.  Thomas,  and  a  very  small  force  was  in  the  lower  valley 
of  Green  River. 

"'This  disposition  of  the  force  had  been  made  for  the  double 
purpose  of  watching  and  checking  the  Rebels,  and  protecting 
the  raising  and  organization  of  troops  among  the  Union  men 
of  Kentucky. 

"'Having  explained  the  situation  from  the  defensive  point  of 
view,  General  Sherman  proceeded  to  consider  it  from  the 
offensive  stand-point.  The  Government  had  undertaken  to 
suppress  the  Rebellion;  the  onus  faciendi,  therefore,  rested 
on  the  Government.  The  Rebellion  could  never  be  put  down, 
the  authority  of  the  paramount  Government  asserted,  and 
the  union  of  the  states  declared  perpetual,  by  force  of  arms, 
by  maintaining  the  defensive;  to  accomplish  these  grand  de- 
siderata, it  was  absolutely  necessary  the  Government  should 
adopt,  and  maintain  until  the  Rebellion  was  crushed,  the 
offensive. 

"'For  the  purpose  of  expelling  the  rebels  from  Kentucky, 
General  Sherman  said  that  at  least  sixty  thousand  soldiers 
were  necessary.  Considering  that  the  means  of  accomplish- 
ment must  always  be  proportioned  to  the  end  to  be  achieved, 
and  bearing  in  mind  the  array  of  rebel  force  then  in  Kentucky, 
every  sensible  man  must  admit  that  the  estimate  of  the  force 
given  by  General  Sherman,  for  driving  the  rebels  out  of  the 
State,  and  re-establishing  and  maintaining  the  authority  of 
the  Government,  was  a  very  low  one.  The  truth  is  that, 
before  the  Rebels  were  driven  from  Kentucky,  many  more 
than  sixty  thousand  soldiers  were  sent  into  the  State. 

"'Ascending  from  the  consideration  of  the  narrow  question 
of  the  political  and  military  situation  in  Kentucky,  and  the 
extent  of  force  necessary  to  redeem  the  State  from  Rebel 


94  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

thraldom,  forcasting  in  his  sagacious  intellect  the  grand  and 
daring  operations  which,  three  years  afterward,  he  realized 
in  a  campaign,  taken  in  its  entirety,  without  a  parallel  in 
modern  times,  General  Sherman  expressed  the  opinion  that, 
to  carry  the  war  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  destroy  all  armed 
opposition  to  the  Government,  in  the  entire  Mississippi 
Valley,  at  least  two  hundred  thousand  troops  were  absolutely 
requisite. 

"'So  soon  as  General  Sherman  had  concluded  the  expression 
of  his  views,  Mr.  Cameron  asked,  with  much  warmth  and 
apparent  irritation,  "Where  do  you  suppose,  General  Sher- 
man, all  this  force  is  to  come  from?"  General  Sherman  re- 
plied that  he  did  not  know;  that  it  was  not  his  duty  to  raise, 
organize,  and  put  the  necessary  military  force  into  the  field; 
that  duty  pertained  to  the  War  Department.  His  duty  was 
to  organize  campaigns  and  command  the  troops  after  they  had 
been  put  into  the  field. 

"'At  this  point  of  the  proceedings,  General  Sherman  sug- 
gested that  it  might  be  agreeable  to  the  Secretary  to  hear  the 
views  of  Mr.  Guthrie.  Thus  appealed  to,  Mr.  Guthrie  said 
he  did  not  consider  himself,  being  a  civilian,  competent  to 
give  an  opinion  as  to  the  extent  of  force  necessary  to  carry 
the  war  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  but,  being  well-informed  of  the 
condition  of  things  in  Kentucky,  he  indorsed  fully  General 
Sherman's  opinion  of  the  force  required  to  drive  the  Rebels 
out  of  the  State. 

"'The  foregoing  is  a  circumstantial  account  of  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  council  that  were  of  any  importance. 

"'A  good  deal  of  desultory  conversation  followed,  on  im- 
material matters;  and  some  orders  were  issued  by  telegraph, 
by  the  Secretary  of  War,  for  some  re-enforcements  to  be 
sent  to  Kentucky  immediately,  from  Pennsylvania  and  In- 
diana. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  95 

"'A  short  time  after  the  council  was  held — the  exact  time  is 
not  now  remembered  by  the  writer — an  imperfect  narrative 
of  it  appeared  in  the  New  York  Tribune.  This  account 
announced  to  the  public  the  conclusions  uttered  by  General 
Sherman  in  the  council,  without  giving  the  reasons  on  which 
his  conclusions  were  based.  The  unfairness  of  this  course 
to  General  Sherman  needs  no  comment.  All  military  men 
were  shocked  by  the  gross  breach  of  faith  which  had  been 
committed. 

"(TH.  J.  WOOD,  Major-General  Volunteers. 

"'ViCKSBURG,  MISSISSIPPI,  August  24,  1 866. '" 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  the  causes  which  so  warped 
men's  judgment  and,  indeed,  seemed  to  have  prejudiced 
their  hearts  against  a  soldier  who  had  in  every  position  re- 
vealed traits  so  extraordinary  as  to  have  been  full  warrant 
for  his  future  success.  There  can  be  no  greater  calamity 
to  a  human  being  than  to  be  forced  to  walk  the  earth 
with  a  partial  consciousness  that  the  mental  faculties  have 
become  so  impaired  as  to  render  a  further  work  impossible. 
But  for  a  man  as  sensitive  as  was  General  Sherman,  as  con- 
scious of  the  correctness  of  his  opinions  regarding  matters 
entirely  beyond  the  comprehension  of  his  judges,  to  be  sent 
out  into  the  world  branded  with  the  taint  of  insanity  was 
enough  to  have  crushed  in  most  men  all  wish  to  render  service 
where  such,  as  was  at  his  disposal,  was  so  greatly  needed. 

Reaching  St.  Louis,  he  was  kindly  received  by  General 
Halleck,  but  the  very  manifestation  of  kindness  carried  proof 
of  a  sort  of  belief  in  the  rumors.  He  was  sent  down  to  "in- 
spect" -a  camp  at  Sedalia,  well  knowing  that  it  was  looked 
upon  as  a  vacation  devised  for  his  personal  benefit.  Every 
newspaper  harped  on  the  terrible  fate  of  General  Sherman. 
The  correspondents  must  have  something  to  write  about, 


96  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

and  it  was  much  safer  writing  this  than  risking  being  caught 
near  a  battle.  Battles  could  be  written  up  from  the  rear 
best.  There  was  no  danger  of  bullets,  and  the  stragglers 
brought  plenty  of  food  for  histories.  What  wonder  some 
imprudent  words  were  called  forth  by  such  tortures.  Rather 
what  wonder  the  victim  of  such  cruelty  did  not  lessen  the 
ranks  of  great  journalistic  critics. 

General  Halleck  telegraphed  Sherman  November  26th, 
"Unless  telegraph  lines  are  interrupted,  make  no  movement 
of  troops  without  orders."  And  three  days  later;  "No  for- 
ward movement  of  troops  will  be  made;  only  strong  recon- 
noitering  parties  will  be  sent  out  in  the  supposed  direction  of 
the  enemy,  the  bulk  of  the  troops  being  held  in  position  till 
more  reliable  information  is  obtained."  Shortly  afterward 
General  Sherman  received  the  following  dispatch: 

"HEADQUARTERS,  ST.  Louis  MISSOURI,  ) 
November,  28,   1861.       J 

"Brigadier-General,  SHERMAN,  Sedalia: 

"Mrs.  Sherman  is  here.  General  Halleck  is  satisfied,  from 
reports  of  scouts  received  here,  that  no  attack  on  Sedalia  is 
intended.  You  will,  therefore,  return  to  this  city,  and  .re- 
port your  observations  on  the  conditions  of  the  troops  you 
have  examined.  Please  telegraph  when  you  will  leave. 

"SCHUYLER  HAMILTON, 
"Brigadier-General  and  Chief  of  Staff. " 

On  his  return  to  St.  Louis  he  found  his  wife  much  alarmed 
at  the  newspaper  stories  regarding  her  husband.  His  return 
gave  new  material  for  the  manufacture  of  "stuff,"  at  so  much 
a  line.  Disgusted  at  the  persistence  with  which  he  had  been 
followed,  General  Sherman  went  to  his  old  home  and  remained 
for  a  time  during  the  winter  of  1861  and  1862,  there  being 
no  active  military  operations.  Early  in  November  he  wrote 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  97 

General  Halleck  complaining  of  the  injustice   and  received 
the  following  reply: 

"ST.  Louis,  December  18,  1861. 
"Brigadier-General^.  T.  SHERMAN,  Lancaster,  Ohio. 

"My  DEAR  GENERAL:  Yours  of  the  I2th  was  received  a 
day  or  two  ago,  but  was  mislaid  for  the  moment  among  private 
papers,  or  I  should  have  answered  it  sooner.  The  newspaper 
attacks  are  certainly  shameless  and  scandalous,  but  I  cannot 
agree  with  you,  that  they  have  us  in  their  power  'to  destroy 
us  as  they  please.'  I  certainly  get  my  share  of  abuse,  but 
it  will  not  disturb  me. 

"Your  movement  of  the  troops  was  not  countermanded  by 
me  because  I  thought  it  an  unwise  one  in  itself,  but  because  I 
was  not  then  ready  for  it.  I  had  better  information  of  Price's 
movements  than  you  had,  and  I  had  no  apprehension  of  an 
attack.  I  intended  to  concentrate  the  forces  on  that  line, 
but  I  wished  the  movement  delayed  until  I  could  determine 
on  a  better  position. 

"After  receiving  Lieutenant-Colonel  McPherson's  report,  I 
made  precisely  the  location  you  had  ordered.  I  was  desirous 
at  the  time  not  to  prevent  the  advance  of  Price  by  any  move- 
ment on  our  part,  hoping  that  he  would  move  on  Lexington; 
but  finding  that  he  had  determined  to  remain  at  Osceola 
for  some  time  at  least,  I  made  the  movement  you  proposed. 
As  you  could  not  know  my  plans,  you  and  others  may  have 
misconstrued  the  reason  on  my  countermanding  your  orders. 
•*  *  # 

"  I  hope  to  see  you  well  enough  for  duty  soon.  Our  organi- 
zation goes  on  slowly,  but  we  will  effect  it  in  time. 

"Yours  truly,  W.  H.  HALLECK." 

Afterward  in  a  letter  to  the  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  General 
Halleck  wrote  as  follows: 

7 


98  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

"ST.  Louis,  February  15,  1862. 
"Hon.  THOMAS  EWING,  Lancaster,  Ohio. 

"DEAR  SIR:  Your  note  of  the  I3th,  and  one  of  this  date, 
from  Mr.  Sherman,  in  relation  to  Brigadier-General  Sher- 
man's having  been  relieved  from  command  in  Sedalia,  in 
November  last,  are  just  received.  General  Sherman  was  not 
put  in  command  at  Sedalia;  he  was  authorized  to  assume  it, 
and  did  so  for  a  day  or  two.  He  did  not  know  my  plans,  and  his 
movement  of  troops  did  not  accord  with  them.  I  therefore 
directed  him  to  leave  them  as  they  were,  and  report  here 
the  result  of  his  inspection,  for  which  purpose  he  had  been 
ordered  there. 

"No  telegram  or  dispatch  of  any  kind  was  sent  by  me,  or 
by  any  one  with  my  knowledge  or  authority,  in  relation  to  it. 
After  his  return,  I  gave  him  a  leave  of  absence  of  twenty 
days,  for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  As  I  was  then  pressing 
General  McClellan  for  more  officers,  I  deemed  it  necessary 
to  explain  why  I  did  so.  I  used  these  words:  'I  am  satis- 
fied that  General  Sherman's  physical  and  mental  system  is  so 
completely  broken  by  labor  and  care  as  to  render  him,  for  the 
present,  unfit  for  duty;  perhaps  a  few  week's  rest  may  restore 
him.'  This  was  the  only  communication  I  made  on  the 
subject.  On  no  occasion  have  I  ever  expressed  an  opinion 
that  his  mind  was  affected  otherwise  than  by  over-exertion; 
to  have  said  so  would  have  done  him  the  greatest  injustice. 

"After  General  Sherman  returned  from  his  short  leave,  I 
found  that  his  health  was  nearly  restored,  and  I  placed  him 
temporarily  in  command  of  the  camp  of  instruction,  number- 
ing over  fifteen  thousand  men.  I  then  wrote  to  General  Mc- 
Clellan that  he  would  soon  be  able  to  again  take  the  field. 
I  gave  General  Sherman  a  copy  of  my  letter.  This  is  the 
total  of  my  correspondence  on  the  subject.  As  evidence  that 
I  have  every  confidence  in  General  Sherman,  I  have  placed 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  99 

him  in  command  of  Western  Kentucky — a  command  only 
second  in  importance  in  this  department.  As  soon  as  divis- 
ions and  columns  and  be  organized,  I  proposed  to  send  him 
into  the  field  where  he  can  render  most  efficient  service.  I 
have  seen  newspaper  squibs  charging  him  with  being  'crazy,' 
etc.  This  is  the  grossest  injustice;  I  do  not,  however,  con- 
sider such  attacks  worthy  of  notice.  The  best  answer  is 
General  Sherman's  present  position,  and  the  valuable  ser- 
vices he  is  rendering  to  the  country.  I  have  the  fullest  con- 
fidence in  him. 

"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"H.  W.  HALLECK,  Major-General" 

On  returning  to  St.  Louis,  on  the  expiration  of  his  leave, 
he  found  that  General  Halleck  was  beginning  to  move  his 
troops:  one  part,  under  General  U.  S.  Grant,  up  the  Ten- 
nessee River;  and  another  part,  under  General  S.  R.  Curtis, 
in  the  direction  of  Springfield,  Missouri.  General  Grant  was 
then  at  Paducah,  and  General  Curtis  was  under  orders  for 
Rolla.  He  was  ordered  to  take  Curtis'  place  in  command 
of  the  camp  of  instruction,  at  Benton  Barracks,  on  the  ground 
back  of  North  St.  Louis,  now  used  as  the  Fair  Grounds,  by 
the  following  order: 

[SPECIAL  ORDER  No.  87.] 

"HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  MISSOURI.  ) 
ST.  Louis,  December  23,  1 86 1.  ) 

[EXTRACT.] 

"Brigadier-General  W.  T.  Sherman,  United  States  Volun- 
teers, is  hereby  assigned  to  the  command  camp  of  instruc- 
tion and  post  of  Benton  Barracks.  He  will  have  every  armed 
regiment  and  company  in  his  command  ready  for  service  at  a 
moment's  warning,  and  will  notify  all  concerned,  that,  when 
marching  orders  are  received,  it  is  expected  that  they  will  be 


IOO  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

instantly  obeyed;  no  excuses  for  delay  will  be  admitted. 
General  Sherman  will  immediately  report  to  these  headquar- 
ters what  regiments  and  companies,  at  Benton  Barracks,  are 
ready  for  the  field.  By  order  of  Major-General  Halleck, 

"J.  C.  KELTEN,  Assistant  Adjutant-General.'" 

On  assuming  command,  he  found,  in  the  building  con- 
structed for  the  commanding  officer,  Brigadier-General 
Strong,  and  the  family  of  a  captain  of  Iowa  cavalry,  with 
whom  he  boarded.  Major  Curtis,  son  of  General  Curtis,  was 
the  Adjutant-General,  but  was  soon  relieved  by  Captain  J.  H. 
Hammond,  who  was  appointed  Assistant  Adjutant-General, 
and  assigned  to  duty  with  General  Sherman.  By  his  activity 
in  this  position  General  Sherman  convinced  all  except  the 
war  correspondents  not  merely  of  his  sanity  but  also  of  his 
great  capacity.  It  was,  perhaps  not  strange  that  the  active 
young  men  who  had  their  positions  to  gain  should  fail  to  grasp 
every  military  movement.  They  did  not  enjoy  the  kind  of 
activity  liable  to  be  found  near  the  front  of  an  army  com- 
manded by  a  soldier  who  had  seen  service  and  disliked  indQ- 
lence.  Though  in  mid-winter,  Halleck  was  making  prepU- 
rations  for  a  vigorous  forward  movement.  The  correspond- 
ents had  demonstrated  with  pen  and  ink  the  necessity  of  an 
immediate  "Advance",  and  the  red-tapists  accepted  their 
statements,  issuing  daily  bulletins  to  the  commanders  less 
trusted  urging  that  degree  of  activity  which  had  been  shown 
possible  in  the  newspapers.  General  Sherman  details  the 
operations  leading  up  to  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  He  saw  no 
more  at  the  time  of  lack  of  confidence  in  his  mental  powers, 
and  before  the  newsmongers  could  start  another  story  he  had 
so  outstripped  them  as  to  force  their  acceptance  of  him  as 
authority  it  were  well  to  quote: 

"Most  people  urged  the  movement   down  the   Mississippi 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  IOI 

River;  but  Generals  Polk  and  Pillow  had  a  large  Rebel  force, 
with  heavy  guns  in  a  very  strong  position,  at  Columbus, 
Kentucky,  about  eighteen  miles  below  Cairo.  Commodore 
Foote  had  his  gunboat  fleet  at  Cairo;  and  General  U.  S. 
Grant,  who  commanded  the  district,  was  collecting  a  large 
force  at  Paducah,  Cairo,  and  Bird's  Point.  General  Halleck 
had  a  map  on  his  table,  with  a  large  pencil  in  his  hand, 
and  asked,  'Where  is  the  rebel  line?"  Cullum  drew  the  pen- 
cil through  Bowling  Green,  Forts  Donelson  and  Henry,  and 
Columbus,  Kentucky.  'That  is  their  line,'  said  Halleck. 
'Now  where  is  the  proper  place  to  break  it?'  And  either 
Cullum  or  I  said,  ''Naturally  the  center.'  Halleck  drew  a 
line  perpendicular  to  the  other,  near  its  middle,  and  it  coin- 
cided nearly  with  the  general  course  of  the  Tennessee  River; 
and  he  said,  'That's  the  true  line  of  operations.'  This  oc- 
curred more  than  a  month  before  General  Grant  began  the 
movement,  and,  as  he  was  subject  to  General  Halleck' s 
orders,  I  have  always  given  Halleck  the  full  credit  for  that 
movement,  which  was  skillful,  successful,  and  extremely  rich 
in  military  results;  indeed,  it  was  the  first  real  success  on 
our  side  in  the  civil  war.  The  movement  up  the  Tennessee 
began  about  the  ist  of  February,  and  Fort  Henry  was  capt- 
ured by  the  joint  action  of  the  navy  under  Commodore 
Foote  and  the  land-forces  under  General  Grant,  on  the  6th 
of  February,  1862.  About  the  same  time,  General  S.  R. 
Curtis  had  moved  forward  from  Rolla,  and,  on  the  8th  of 
March,  defeated  the  rebels  under  McCulloch,  Van  Dorn,  and 
Price,  at  Pea  Ridge. 

"As  soon  as  Fort  Henry  fell,  General  Grant  marched 
straight  across  to  Fort  Donelson,  on  the  Cumberland  River, 
invested  the  place,  and,  as  soon  as  the  gunboats  had  come 
round  from  the  Tennessee,  and  had  bombarded  the  water- 
front, he  assaulted;  whereupon  Buckner  surrendered  the  gar- 


IO2  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

rison  of  twelve  thousand  men;  Pillow  and  ex-Secretary  of 
War  General  Floyd  having  personally  escaped  across  the 
river  at  night,  occasioning  a  good  deal  of  fun  and  criticism 
at  their  expense. 

"Before  the  fall  of  Donelson,  but  after  that  of  Henry,  I 
received,  at  Benton  Barracks  the  following  orders: 

"HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  MISSOURI,  ) 
ST.  Louis,  February  13,  1862.     ) 

"Brigadier-General  SHERMAN,  Benton  Barracks: 

"You  will  immediately  repair  to  Paducah,  Kentucky,  and 
assume  command  of  that  post.  Brigadier-General  Hurlbut 
will  accompany  you.  The  command  of  Benton  Barracks 
will  be  turned  over  to  General  Strong. 

"H.  W.  HALLECK,  Major-General." 

"I  started  for  Paducah  the  same  day,  and  think  that  Gen- 
eral Cullum  went  with  me  to  Cairo,  General  Halleck's  pur- 
pose being  to  push  forward  the  operations  up  the  Tennessee 
River  with  unusual  vigor.  On  reaching  Paducah,  I  found 
this  dispatch: 

"HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  MISSOURI,  ) 
ST.  Louis,  February  15,  1862.  ) 

"Brigadier-General  SHERMAN,  Paducah,  Kentucky: 

"Send  General  Grant  everything  you  can  spare  from  Padu- 
cah and  Smithland;  also  General  Hurlbut. 

"Bowling  Green  has  been  evacuated  entirely. 

"H.  W.  HALLECK,  Major-General" 

"The  next  day  brought  us  news  of  the  surrender  of  Buckner, 
and  probably  at  no  time  during  the  war  did  we  all  feel  so 
heavy  a  weight  raised  from  our  breasts,  or  so  thankful  for  a 
most  fruitful  series  of  victories.  They  at  once  gave  Gen- 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  1 03 

erals  Halleck,  Grant,  and  C.  E.  Smith  great  fame.  Of 
course,  the  Rebels  let  go  their  whole  line,  and  fell  back  on 
Nashville  and  Island  Number  Ten,  and  to  the  Memphis 
&  Charleston  Railroad.  Everybody  was  anxious  to  help. 
Boats  passed  up  and  down  constantly,  and  very  soon  arrived 
the  Rebel  prisoners  from  Donelson.  I  saw  General  Buckner 
on  the  boat;  he  seemed  self-sufficient,  and  thought  their  loss 
was  not  really  so  serious  to  their  cause  as  we  did. 

"From  the  time  I  had  left  Kentucky,  General  Buell  had 
really  made  no  substantial  progress,  though  strongly  re- 
enforced  beyond  even  what  I  had  asked  for.  General  Albert 
Sidney  Johnston  had  remained  at  Bowling  Green  until  his 
line  was  broken  at  Henry  and  Donelson,  when  he  let  go 
Bowling  Green  and  fell  back  hastily  to  Nashville;  and  on 
Buell's  approach  did  not  even  tarry  there,  but  continued  his 
retreat  southward." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

FROM    SHILOH    TO    MEMPHIS — DOING    THE    WORK    AND    THANKED 
CORDIALLY   FOR   IT    BY    GENERAL  GRANT. 

The  early  spring  of  1862  saw  great  activity  along  the  Union 
lines.  In  February  Major-General  Halleck  was  in  command 
of  all  the  armies  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  having  headquar- 
ters at  St.  Louis.  On  the  i6th,  Fort  Donelson  fell  before 
Grant's  assault.  General  Sherman  was  at  Paducah  to  push 
forward  the  work  then  in  progress  up  the  Tennessee  and  Cum- 
berland rivers.  General  Buel  was  pressing  the  enemy,  which 
had  retreated  from  Bowling  Green  through  Nashville.  The 
Generals  in  command  of  active  operations  were  getting  fur- 
ther away  from  their  superior's  headquarters  than  was  pleas- 
ant to  Halleck,  and  the  army  operations  were  practically  con- 
ducted at  arms-length.  On  the  first  day  of  March,  General 
Sherman  received  the  following  dispatch  which  was  at  once 
forwarded  to  Grant,  the  condition  of  the  telegraph  lines 
being  such  as  to  make  communication  very  uncertain. 

"ST.  Louis,  March  i,  1862. 
"To  Genera!  GRANT,  Fort  Henry: 

"Transports  will  be  sent  you  as  soon  as  possible,  to 
move  your  column  up  the  Tennessee  River.  The  main 
object  of  this  expedition  will  be  to  destroy  the  railroad-bridge 
over  Bear  Creek,  near  Eastport,  Mississippi;  and  also  the 
railroad  connections  at  Corinth,  Jackson,  and  Humboldt. 
It  is  thought  best  that  these  objects  be  attempted  in  the 

order  named.     Strong  detachments  of  cavalry  and  light  ar- 

104 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  105 

tillery,  supported  by  infantry,  may  by  rapid  movements 
reach  these  points  from  the  river,  without  any 'serious  op- 
position. 

"Avoid  any  general  engagements  with  strong  forces.  It 
will  be  better  to  retreat  than  to  risk  a  general  battle.  This 
should  be  strongly  impressed  on  the  officers  sent  with  expe- 
ditions from  the  river.  General  C.  F.  Smith  or  some  very 
discreet  officer  should  be  selected  for  such  commands.  Hav- 
ing accomplished  these  objects,  or  such  of  them  as  may  be 
practicable,  you  will  return  to  Danville,  and  move  on  Paris. 

"Perhaps  the  troops  sent  to  Jackson  and  Humboldt  can 
reach  Paris  by  land  as  easily  as  to  return  to  the  transports. 
This  must  depend  upon  the  character  of  the  roads  and  the 
position  of  the  enemy.  All  telegraphic  lines  which  can  be 
reached  must  be  cut.  The  gunboats  will  accompany  the 
transports  for  their  protection.  Any  loyal  Tennesseeans  who 
desire  it,  may  be  enlisted  and  supplied  with  arms.  Compe- 
tent officers  should  be  left  to  command  Forts  Henry  and. 
Donelson  in  your  absence.  I  have  indicated  in  general  terms 
the  object  of  this. 

"H.  W.  HALLECK,  Major-General." 

In  quick  succession  came  the  two  following  dispatches, 
indicating  that  distance  from  his  armies  was  not  adding  to 
the  comfort  of  General  Halleck. 

"CAIRO,  March  2,  1862. 
"  To  General  GRANT: 

"General  Halleck,  February  2 5th,  telegraphs  me:  'General 
Grant  will  send  no  more  forces  to  Clarskville.  General 
Smith's  division  will  come  to  Fort  Henry,  or  a  point  higher 
up  on  the  Tennessee  River;  transports  will  also  be  collected 
at  Paducah.  Two  gunboats  in  Tennessee  River  with  Grant. 
General  Grant  will  immediately  have  small  garrisons  de» 


IO6  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

tailed  for  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  and  all  other  forces 
made  ready  for  the  field. ' 

"From  your  letter  of  the  28th,  I  learn  you  were  at  Fort 
Donelson,  and  General  Smith  at  Nashville,  from  which  I 

+ 

infer  you  could  not  have  received  orders.  Halleck's  tele- 
gram of  last  night  says:  'Who  sent  Smith's  division  to  Nash- 
ville? I  ordered  it  across  to  the  Tennessee,  where  they  are 
wanted  immediately.  Order  them  back.  Send  all  spare 
transports  up  Tennessee  to  General  Grant. '  Evidently  the 
general  supposes  you  to  be  on  the  Tennessee.  I  am  sending 
all  the  transports  I  can  find  for  you,  reporting  to  General 
Sherman  for  orders  to  go  up  the  Cumberland  for  you,  or,  if 
you  march  across  to  Fort  Henry,  then  to  send  them  up  the 
Tennessee.  G.  W.  CULLUM,  Brigadier-General" 

"On  the  4th  came  this  dispatch: 

"ST.  Louis,  March  4,  1862. 
"To  Major-General  U.  S.  GRANT: 

"You  will  place  Major-General  C.  F.  Smith  in  command 
of  expedition,  and  remain  yourself  at  Fort  Henry.  Why  do 
you  not  obey  my  orders  to  report  strength  and  positions  of 
your  command? 

"H.  W.  HALLECK,  Major-General." 

The  closing  sentence  of  the  last  dispatch  reveals  some  of 
the  discouraging  features  of  the  contest.  The  penny-a-liners 
were  active  in  all  directions.  The  same  ignorant  zeal  which 
led  them  to  manufacture  and  keep  alive  the  belief  that  Sher- 
man was  crazy  also  induced  their  sending  out  whatever  story 
they  could  manufacture  from  rumors  at  headquarters.  Hence 
the  tenor  of  these  dispatches  to  Generals,  whom  the  army 
were  learning  to  love  for  their  bravery  and  skill,  caused  not  a 
little  ill-feeling  among  the  officers  and  enlisted  men. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  IO/ 

Sherman  had  been  engaged  in  forwarding  steamboats  and 
men  to  other  Generals  under  orders  from  General  Halleck 
and  also  in  preparing  a  force  for  himself  out  of  the  new  re- 
cruits sent  him.  On  March  10,  he  embarked  his  division 
at  Paducah,  and  four  days  later  sailed  up  the  Tennessee, 
making  a  feint  of  landing  at  Eastport  and  finally  disem- 
barking at  Pittsburg  Landing.  General  Sherman  intended 
to  march  from  Pittsburg  Landing  toward  luka,  and,  resting 
his  infantry  there,  to  send  his  cavalry  to  the  Memphis  and 
Charleston  railway.  But  the  enemy  was  met  in  greater 
force  than  expected.  In  the  meanwhile,  Major-General 
Charles  F.  Smith,  in  command  of  the  advance,  having  landed 
his  own  second  division  at  Savannah,  had  selected  Pittsburg 
Landing  as  the  favorable  position  for  the  encampment  of  the 
main  body  of  the  army,  and  under  his  instructions  Sherman 
and  Hurlbut,  who  had  closely  followed  him,  went  into  camp 
there.  In  a  few  days  they  were  joined  by  the  first  and  sixth 
divisions  of  McClernand  and  Prentiss,  and  by  Smith's  own 
division  from  Savannah;  and  Major-General  Grant  arrived 
and  took  command  in  person.  During  the  last  week  of 
March,  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  only  waited  for  the  Army 
of  the  Ohio.  General  Buell  had  informed  General  Grant  that 
he  would  join  him  before  that  time;  but  he  had  encountered 
great  delays,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  sixth  of  April  the 
.Army  of  the  Ohio  had  not  yet  come.  It  was  hourly  expected. 
Instructions  had  been  sent  by  General  Grant  to  expedite  its 
advance,  and  to  push  on  to  Pittsburg.  The  importance  of 
the  crisis  was  apparent,  for  Johnston  would  naturally  seek 
to  strike  Grant  before  Buell's  arrival;  but  Buell  marched  his 
troops  with  the  same  deliberation  as  if  no  other  army  depended 
upon  his  promptness.  By  orders  he  caused  intervals  of  six 
miles  to  be  observed  between  his  divisions,  thus  lengthening 
out  his  column  to  a  distance  of  over  thirty  miles. 


IO8  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

Pittsburg  is  not  a  village,  but  only  a  landing,  and  is  situ- 
ated in  a  deep  ravine,  down  which  the  Corinth  road  leads  to 
the  Tennessee  River.  The  ground  in  front  of  Pittsburg  is 
an  undulating  table-land,  about  a  hundred  feet  above  the 
road  bottom,  between  two  tributaries  of  the  Tennessee,  Lick 
Creek  on  the  south,  and  Snake  Creek  on  the  north,  and  hav- 
ing a  front  of  about  three  miles  between  the  two  streams. 
The  country  is  covered  with  a  heavy  forest,  passable  for 
troops,  except  where  the  undergrowth  constitutes  an  obstruc- 
tion, and  is  broken  by  small  cleared  farms.  The  soil  is  a 
heavy  clay.  About  two  miles  from  the  landing,  the  road  to 
Corinth  forks  into  two  branches,  forming  the  Lower  Corinth 
road  and  the  Ridge  Corinth  road;  and  another  road  leads  off, 
still  further  to  the  left,  across  Lick  Creek  to  Hamburgh,  a 
few  miles  up  the  Tennessee  River.  On  the  right,  two  roads 
lead  almost  due  west  to  Purdy,  and  another  in  a  northerly 
direction  across  Snake  Creek,  down  the  river  to  Crump's 
Landing,  six  miles  below. 

"On  the  front  of  this  position,  facing  to  the  south  and 
southwest,  five  divisions  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  were 
encamped  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  April.  On  the  extreme 
left  lay  Stuart's  brigade  of  Sherman's  division,  on  the  Ham- 
burgh road,  behind  the  abrupt  bank  of  Lick  Creek.  Pren- 
tiss'  small  division,  facing  to  the  south,  carried  the  line 
across  a  branch  of  the  main  Corinth  road,  nearly  to  Sher- 
man's left.  Sherman  facing  to  the  south,  with  his  right 
thrown  back  toward  the  landing,  extended  the  front  to  the 
Purdy  road,  near  Owl  Creek.  This  advanced  line  was 
about  two  miles  from  the  landing.  Near  the  river,  about  a 
mile  in  rear  of  Prentiss  and  Stuart,  Hurlbut's  division  was 
encamped;  McClernand's  was  posted  to  the  left  and  rear  of 
Sherman,  covering  the  interval  between  him  and  Prentiss; 
and  C.  F.  Smith's  division,  commanded  during  his  severe 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

illness  at  Savannah  by  Brigadier-General  \V.  H.  L.  Wallace, 
was  on  the  right  of  Hurlbut.  Lewis  Wallace's  division  was 
six  miles  distant,  at  Crump's  Landing.  The  whole  force  in 
front  of  Pittsburg  was  about  thirty  thousand  men. 

On  Friday,  the  4th  of  April,  the  enemy's  cavalry  had  made 
a  demonstration  upon  the  picket  line,  drove  it  in  on  Sher- 
man's center,  and  captured  a  lieutenant  and  seven  men.  They 
were  repulsed  by  Sherman's  cavalry,  and  pursued  with  con- 
siderable loss.  The  next  day  the  enemy's  cavalry  had  again 
showed  itself  in  our  front,  but  there  was  nothing  to  indicate 
a  general  attack  until  seven  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning, 
when  the  advance  guard  on  Sherman's  front  was  forced  in 
upon  his  main  line.  Sherman  at  once  got  his  men  under 
arms,  sent  a  request  to  General  McClernand  to  support  his 
left,  and  informed  Generals  Prentiss  and  Hurlbut  .that  the 
enemy  was  before  him  in  force.  Sherman's  division  was 
posted  as  follows:  The  first  brigade,  under  Colonel  J.  A. 
McDowell,  consisting  of  the  6th  Iowa;  4<Dth  Illinois,  Colonel 
Hicks;  46th  Ohio,  Colonel  Worthington,  and  Captain  Behr's 
"Morton"  Battery  held  the  right,  guarding  the  bridge  over 
Owl  Creek.  The  fourth  brigade,  commanded  by  Colonel  Buck- 
land  of  the  72nd  Ohio,  with  his  own  regiment;  the  48th 
Ohio,  Colonel  Sullivan,  and  the  /oth  Ohio,  Colonel  Cockerill, 
continued  the  line,  its  left  resting  on  Shiloh  meeting-house. 
The  third  brigade,  commanded  by  Colonel  Hildebrand  of  the 
77th  Ohio,  was  composed  of  that  regiment,  the  53d  Ohio, 
Colonel  Appier,  and  the  57th  Ohio,  Colonel  Mungen,  and  was 
posted  to  the  left  of  the  Corinth  road,  its  right  resting  on 
Shiloh  meeting-house.  Taylor's  battery  of  light  artillery  was 
in  position  at  the  meeting-house,  and  Waterhouse's  on  a 
ridge  to  the  left  commanding  the  open  ground  between  Ap- 
pier's and  Mungen's  regiments.  Eight  companies  of  the  4th 
Illinois  cavalry,  Colonel  Dickey,  were  placed  in  a  large  open 


HO  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

field  in  rear  of  the  center  of  the  division.  Stuart's  second 
brigade  was,  as  we  have  seen,  detached,  and  on  the  extreme 
left  of  the  army. 

The  enemy  formed  under  cover  of  the  brush  that  lines  Owl 
Creek,  and  at  eight  o'clock  opened  fire  from  his  artillery, 
and  moved  forward  his  infantry  across  the  open  ground  and 
up  the  slope  that  separated  him  from  our  lines.  It  now  be- 
came evident  that  a  general  and  determined  attack  was 
intended.  Under  cover  of  the  advance  on  Sherman's  front, 
the  enemy  was  seen  moving  heavy  masses  to  the  left  to  attack 
Prentiss.  About  nine,  Prentiss  was  giving  ground,  and  pres- 
ently Colonel  Appier's  Fifty-third  Ohio  and  Colonel  Mun- 
gen's  Fifty-seventh  Ohio  regiments  broke  in  disorder,  expos- 
ing Waterhouse's  battery.  A  brigade  of  McClernand's  divis- 
ion, which  had  been  promptly  moved  forward  by  General 
McClernand  to  the  support  of  Sherman's  left,  formed  the 
immediate  supports  of  this  battery;  but  the  enemy  advanced 
with  such  vigor,  and  kept  up  so  severe  a  fire,  that  the  three 
regiments  were  soon  also  in  disorder,  and  the  battery  was 
lost.  McDowell's  and  Buckland's  brigades,  and  the  rest  of 
Hildebrand's  brigade  maintained  the  position  at  Shiloh  for 
an  hour  longer;  but  ten  o'clock  found  the  enemy  pressing 
heavily  upon  Sherman's  front,  their  artillery  supported  by 
infantry  in  rear  of  the  left  flank  of  the  division,  and  Hilde- 
brand's own  regiment  broken  up  also;  it  was  found  necessary 
to  change  position  at  once,  and  Sherman  accordingly  gave 
orders  to  retire  his  line  to  the  Purdy  and  Hamburgh  road. 
Taylor's  battery  was  sent  to  the  rear  to  take  up  the  new 
position,  and  hold  the  enemy  while  the  movement  progressed. 
Riding  across  the  angle,  General  Sherman  met  Captain 
Behr's  battery  attached  to  Colonel  McDowell's  brigade,  and 
ordered  it  to  come  into  battery.  The  captain  had  hardly 
given  the  order  to  his  men,  when  he  was  struck  by  a  musket- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  Ill 

ball  and  fell.  The  driver^  and  gunners  incontinently  fled  with- 
out firing  a  single  shot,  carrying  with  them  the  caissons  and 
one  gun  and  abandoning  the  other  six  to  the  enemy.  Gen- 
eral Sherman  being  thus  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  again 
choosing  a  new  line,  and  of  abandoning  the  attempt  to  main- 
tain his  old  one,  promptly  moved  the  coherent  remainder  of 
his  division,  consisting  of  Colonel  McDowell's  and  Colonel 
Buckland's  brigades,  Captain  Taylor's  battery,  and  three 
guns  of  Captain  Waterhouse's  battery,  to  the  support  of 
General  McClernand's  right,  which  was  just  then  menaced. 
At  half-past  ten  the  enemy  made  a  furious  attack  on  the 
whole  front  of  McClernand's  division,  and  for  some  time 
pressed  it  hard;  but  the  movement  of  Colonel  McDowell's 
brigade  against  his  left  flank,  forced  him  back  and  relieved 
the  pressure.  Taking  advantage  of  the  cover  of  trees  and 
felled  timber,  and  of  a  wooded  ravine  on  the  right,  Sherman 
held  this  position  for  four  hours,  contesting  it  with  the  enemy, 
who  continued  to  make  determined  efforts  to  drive  us  back 
upon  the  river.  General  Grant  visited  this  part  of  the  lines 
about  three  in  the  afternoon,  conversed  with  McClernand  and 
Sherman,  and  informed  them  of  the  condition  of  affairs  on 
the  other  parts  of  the  field,  where  our  resistance  had  been  less 
successful. 

An  hour  later  it  became  evident  to  both  the  division  com- 
manders, from  the  sounds  heard  in  that  direction,  that  Hurl- 
but  had  fallen  back  toward  the  river;  and  having  been  in- 
formed by  General  Grant  that  General  Lewis  Wallace  was 
on  his  way  from  Crump's  Landing  with  his  entire  division, 
they  agreed  upon  a  new  line  of  defense,  covering  the  bridge 
over  Snake  Creek,  by  which  these  re-enforcements  were  ex- 
pected to  approach.  The  retirement  to  the  position  so 
selected  was  made  deliberately,  and  in  as  good  order  as  could 
have  been  expected.  Many  stragglers  and  fragments  of 


112  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

troops  were  encountered  during  the  movement,  and  united 
with  the  two  divisions.  The  enemy's  cavalry  attempting  a 
charge  was  handsomely  repulsed.  The  Fifth  Ohio  cavalry, 
arriving  upon  the  ground,  held  the  enemy  in  check  for  some 
time,  until  Major  Ezra  Taylor,  chief  of  artillery  of  Sherman's 
division,  came  up  with  Schwartz's  battery  of  McClernand's 
division,  and  opened  an  effective  fire  upon  the  enemy's  flank 
as  he  pressed  forward  against  McClernand's  right.  McCler- 
nand  having  now  deployed  his  division  on  its  new  line,  ordered 
a  charge,  which  was  handsomely  executed,  driving  the  enemy 
from  his  front,  and  forcing  them  to  seek  cover  in  the  ravines 
in  advance  of  our  right.  It  was  now  five  o'clock.  The  new 
line  had  been  well  selected,  and  afforded  us  a  decided  ad- 
vantage, the  ground  along  its  front  being  open  for  a  distance 
of  about  two  hundred  yards.  The  enemy's  momentum  was 
spent,  and  he  did  not  afterwards  attempt  to  cross  this  open 
space. 

"  On  the  left,  the  day  had  scarcely  gone  so  well.  The  weight 
of  the  enemy's  attack  was  chiefly  directed  against  this  wing. 
The  two  brigades  of  Prentiss  gave  way  early  in  the  morning, 
and  drifted  to  the  rear  as  Hurlbut  advanced  to  their  support, 
and  by  ten  o'clock  the  division  had  melted  away.  Hurlbut 
made  a  gallant  fight,  obstinately  contesting  the  ground  with 
varying  success,  until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  his 
division  also  was  pressed  to  the  rear,  and  the  whole  line  com- 
pelled to  retire.  Smith's  division,  under  the  command  of 
Brigadier-General  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  had  been  moved  upon 
Hurlbut's  right,  and  had  materially  aided  in  holding  our 
ground,  there,  but  had  in  its  turn  been  forced  back.  Colonel 
Stuart's  brigade-held  the  extreme  left  until  the  pressure  of  the 
enemy  on  its  front,  and  the  exposure  of  its  flank  by  the  disas- 
ter to  Prentiss,  forced  it  successively  to  take  up  new  lines  of  de- 
fense on  the  ridges  which  broke  the  ground  toward  the  river. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

Our  troops  held  this  last  firmly.  It  was  now  after  six  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  The  battle  had  lasted  nearly  twelve  hours. 
Our  troops  had  been  driven  from  all  their  camps  of  the  morn- 
ing, except  Wallace's,  to  the  line  of  woods  in  the  rear,  had 
been  dislodged  from  that  position,  and  again  pressed  back, 
and  now  held  a  line  perpendicular  to  the  river,  with  its  left 
resting  on  the  bluff  behind  which  the  landing  was  situated, 
and  only  half  a  mile  from  it.  The  enemy  gathered  up  his 
forces,  and  made  a  last  desperate  effort  to  gain  this  position. 
But  his  losses  had  been  very  heavy,  his  troops  were  much 
shaken  by  the  hard  fighting  they  had  encountered,  and  the 
spirit  which  characterized  their  first  onset  in  the  morning 
had  burned  out.  Cheatham's  division  and  Gladden' s  brigade, 
which  now  held  the  extreme  right  of  the  confederate  line  on 
the  river,  lay  directly  under  the  fire  of  our  artillery.  They 
attempted  to  take  it,  but  were  repulsed  in  great  disorder. 

"A  galling  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry  was  poured  into 
them;  and  the  gunboats  "Lexington"  and  "Tyler"  swept  the 
flanks  with  their  nine-inch  shell.  Their  troops  were  re- 
formed with  difficulty.  Night  was  closing  in.  General  Beau- 
regard  gave  the  orders  to  retire  out  of  range,  and  the  battle 
was  over. 

"Darkness  fell  upon  the  disordered  and  confused  rem- 
nants of  two  large  armies.  In  each  the  losses  had  been 
very  hervy,  the  straggling  fearful,  and  the  confusion  almost 
inextricable.  But  the  enemy  had  failed.  He  had  attempted 
to  force  us  back  upon  the  river  and  compel  our  surrender, 
and  had  not  done  so.  In  the  morning  we  would  attack  him 
and  seek  to  drive  him  from  the  field.  General  Grant  had 
given  verbal  orders  to  that  effect  to  General  Sherman  about 
3  p.  M.,  before  the  last  repulse  of  the  enemy. 

General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  the  Confederate  comman- 

der-in-chief,  was  mortally  wounded  in  front  of  Sherman's 
8 


114  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

division,  and  died  shortly  afterward  at  half-past  two  o'clock. 
Two  regiments  of  Nelson's  division,  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
crossed  the  river,  and  arrived  upon  the  extreme  left  of  the 
field  about  six  o'clock,  in  time  to  fire  a  few  shots  just  before 
the  final  repulse.  As  Nelson's  troops  came  up,  they  met 
an  appalling  sight.  A  crowd  of  from  seven  to  ten  thousand 
panic-stricken  wretches  thronged  the  landing,  crouching 
behind  trees  and  under  the  bluff  to  avoid  the  enemy's  shell, 
which  had  begun  to  drop  in  among  them,  and  giving  vent  to 
the  most  sickening  cries  that  we  were  whipped,  and  cut  to 
pieces,  and  imploring  their  newly-arrived  comrades  to  share 
their  shame.  But  the  gallant  men  of  Nelson's  division  were 
unmoved  by  the  scene,  and  greeted  the  loathsome  pack  with 
jeers  and  sarcasm.  It  is  perhaps  natural  enough  that  those 
who  saw  only  the  stragglers  should  have  found  it  hard  to 
believe  that  anyone  had  fought.  Yet  the  greater  portion  of 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  had  stood  to  their  arms,  and  had 
repulsed  the  enemy. 

"The  troops  slept  that  night  in  good  spirits,  although  about 
midnight  they  were  drenched  by  the  heavy  rain  which  began  to 
fall.  They  knew  that  the  enemy  had  failed,  that  Lewis 
Wallace  would  be  up  during  the  night,  that  Buell  was  arriv- 
ing, and  that  in  the  morning  these  fresh  battalions  would  be 
hurled  against  the  shaken  and  broken  foe.  The  "Lexing- 
ton" dropped  a  shell  into  the  enemy's  lines  every  ten  minutes, 
until  i  A.  M.,  when  the  "Tyler"  took  her  turn  at  the  same 
task,  firing  every  quarter  of  an  hour  till  daylight.  The 
demoralizing  shriek  of  the  navy  shells,  while  it  robbed  the 
enemy  of  rest,  was  inspiring  music  to  the  ears  of  our  wearied 
troops.  During  the  night  the  remainder  of  Nelson's  division 
crossed  the  river,  and  took  position  in  the  left  front;  and 
later  came  Crittenden's  division,  followed  by  McCook's,  suc- 
cessively extending  the  line  to  the  right  and  connecting  with 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  115 

Hurlbut's  left.      Lewis  Wallace   arrived   about  I  A.  M.,  and 
came  into  position  on  Sherman's  right. 

"Daybreak  of  the  7th  found  the  enemy  out  of  sight  in  our 
front.  He  showed  no  signs  of  advancing.  Beauregard  did 
not  know  that  Buell  had  come,  and  yet  he  did  not  attack. 
As  soon  as  it  was  fairly  light,  the  division  commanders  re- 
ceived the  orders  promised  by  General  Grant  at  the  close  of 
the  previous  day's  battle,  to  move  upon  the  enemy  and  drive 
him  from  our  front.  By  six  o'clock  our  artillery  opened  fire 
on  the  left.  About  seven,  Nelson,  Crittenden,  and  McCook 
pushed  forward,  and  by  ten  were  warmly  engaged  with  the 
enemy  in  a  contest  for  the  possession  of  the  old  camps. 
Hurlbut,  McClernand,  Sherman,  and  Wallace  now  moved 
steadily  forward.  The  open  fields  in  front  of  the  log  church 
of  Shiloh  were  reached.  The  enemy's  position  here  was  a 
strong  one,  and  he  contested  it  obstinately.  For  more  than 
three  hours  he  held  his  ground  in  the  scrub-oak  thicket. 
But  by  one  o'clock  his  weakness  had  become  apparent.  He 
was  yielding  everywhere,  and  giving  palpable  signs  of  exhaus- 
tion. General  Beauregard  gave  orders  to  withdraw  from  the 
contest.  About  2  p.  M.,  his  right  retired,  and  two  hours 
later  his  left  followed.  The  movement  was  made  in  toler- 
able order.  Near  the  junction  of  the  Hamburgh  and  Pittsburg 
road  with  the  Hamburgh  and  Corinth  road,  his  rear- 
guard under  Breckinridge  made  a  stand;  and  the  next 
day  his  retreat  was  continued  to  Corinth.  On  the  8th, 
Sherman,  with  two  brigades,  followed  Breckinridge  to 
the  point  where  he  made  his  first  stand.  But  our  troops  were 
worn  out,  disorganized,  out  of  supplies,  and  in  no  condition 
to  enter  upon  a  campaign.  They  returned  to  Pittsburg  to 
refit  and  reorganize.  Sherman  lost  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  killed,  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
wounded,  and  four  hundred  and  forty-one  missing;  total  two 


Il6  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

thousand  and  thirty-four.  Brigadier-General  W.  H.  L. 
Wallace  was  killed  during  the  first  day,  and  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral B.  M.  Prentiss  taken  prisoner,  and  their  divisions  broken 
up  and  distributed. 

"The  enemy  went  into  battle  on  the  6th  with  forty  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty-five  effective  men.  His  losses,  as 
stated  by  General  Beauregard  in  his  official  report,  were,  in 
killed,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-eight; 
wounded,  eight  thousand  and  twelve;  missing,  nine  hundred 
and  fifty-nine;  total,  ten  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine.  General  Beauregard  says:  'On  Monday,  from  ex- 
haustion and  other  causes,  not  twenty  thousand  men  could 
be  brought  into  action  on  our  side. '  If  we  suppose  two 
thirds  of  the  casualties  to  have  occurred  on  Sunday,  there 
should  still  have  been  over  thirty-eight  thousand  men  with 
the  Rebel  colors  on  Monday;  and  even  imagining,  for  the  sake 
of  illustration,  that  all  the  losses  took  place  on  the  first  day, 
the  enemy  should  have  had  nearly  thirty-five  thousand  fight- 
ing men  on  the  second.  Yet  that  number  was  less  than 
twenty  thousand.  Here  are  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  thousand 
men  to  be  accounted  for,  or  about  half  of  his  remaining  force. 
These  are  the  stragglers. 

"General  Beauregard,  in  his  official  report,  estimates  the 
Union  forces  engaged  on  Sunday  at  forty-five  thousand,  the 
remnant  of  General  Grant's  forces  on  Monday  morning  at 
twenty  thousand,  and  the  reinforcements  received  during  the 
preceding  night  at  thirty-three  thousand,  making  fifty-three 
thousand  arrayed  against  him  on  that  day,  or  seventy-eight 
thousand  on  both  days;  and  he  sets  down  our  aggregate  losses 
at  twenty  thousand. 

"The  enemy's  troops  were  comparatively  old.  Bragg's 
corps  had  been  under  fire  at  Pensacola;  Folk's,  at  Columbus, 
and  Hardee's  at  Mill  Spring,  in  Kentucky.  A  considerable 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

portion  of  them  had  been  organized  and  drilled  since  the 
summer  of  1861,  but  there  was  also  a  large  infusion  of  new 
regiments  and  new  men,  troops  which  had  never  been  under 
fire,  and  militia  just  from  the  States.  The  commander-in- 
chief,  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  was  one  of  the  ablest 
officers  of  the  old  regular  army  of  the  United  States.  Gen- 
eral Beauregard,  his  second  in  command,  had  been  known 
as  a  skillful  officer  of  engineers,  and  by  the  exercise  of  his 
popular  talents  had  suddenly  achieved  a  reputation  which 
his  subsequent  history  failed  to  sustain.  Of  Grant's  army 
only  two  divisions  had  been  under  fire.  Sherman's,  Prentiss', 
Hurlbut's  and  Lewis  Wallace's  were  all  new  and  raw." 

It  is  by  the  record  of  this  battle  that  envy  and  ignorance 
have  sought  to  tarnish  the  names  and  fame  of  the  two  great- 
est soldiers  of  their  age.  In  the  attempt  no  regard  has  been 
shown  to  officers  or  men;  no  credit  given  to  raw  troops  smell- 
ing powder  for  the  first  time,  and  yet  repulsing  troops  of 
veterans  fighting  on  their  own  chosen  ground.  As  to  the  credit 
due  the  troops  I  feel  sure  posterity  will  do  full  justice.  As 
to  the  ability  of  the  commanders  I  have  known  no  true  sol- 
dier who  would  willingly  increase  his  own  deserts  by  casting 
slurs  on  the  generals  who  made  that  victory  possible.  Two 
incidents  occurring  during  the  fight  made  a  deep  impression 
on  me,  and  gave  me  an  insight  to  the  animus  of  the  attacks 
made  on  prominent  Union  officers  by  irresponsible  scribblers. 
Into  the  hands  of  these  journalists  had  been  placed  a  power 
for  good  or  evil  under  the  then  state  of  public  feeling  that 
should  always  have  been  turned  to  the  right. 

During  the  hottest  part  of  the  Sunday  morning  fight  on  the 
6th  of  April,  1862,  I  was  sent  with  messages  from  my  Colonel 
to  General  Sherman.  Riding  along  the  Purdy  road  I  came 
upon  General  Sherman  and  his  staff  on  a  little  knoll  over- 
looking Owl  Creek.  As  I  approached  the  group  I  could  hear 


118  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

the  whiz  of  the  enemy's  bullets,  and  the  air  seemed  full  of 
the  deadly  missiles.  It  was  not  my  first  experience,  but 
even  now  I  can  feel  the  tingle  of  the  blood  at  my  finger- 
tips as  I  thought  it  might  be  my  last.  It  seemed  impossible 
to  escape  such  a  hail.  Saluting  the  General,  I  approached 
and  handed  him  my  dispatches.  They  contained  a  brief 
report  of  a  reconnoissance.  Sitting  on  his  horse,  General 
Sherman  read  the  lines  as  calmly  as  if  he  had  been  sitting 
in  his  bank  parlor  at  San  Francisco,  then  turning  to  me 
asked  when  I  was  to  return.  My  regiment  was  about  five 
miles  to  the  rear.  I  remember  how  far  it  seemed  as  I  sat 
there  looking  at  my  superior  officer,  and  wondering  when  he 
would  signify  that  I  might  depart.  Looking  up  quickly  at  his 
question,  I  replied,  "If  you  have  no  orders  for  me  I  think  I  will 
return  as  quickly  as  possible,  as  there  maybe  changes  there; 
and  besides,  General,  I  don't  like  this  standing  here  as  a 
target  and  no  chance  to  fire  back."  I  shall  never  forget  his 
calm  reply;  "You  can  go,  but  my  lad,  never  have  that  feeling 
again.  You  are  'firing  back'  just  as  truly  as  if  you  had 
your  gun.  These  may  be  the  hardest  duties  of  a  soldier,  but 
they  must  be  performed." 

I  made  my  way  back  to  the  rear  without  loss  of  time.  In- 
deed, I  remember  thinking  how  much  better  it  would  be  if 
my  messages  could  always  be  directed  to  the  rear.  And 
then  I  fell  to  thinking  of  the  close  call  I  had  had,  and  just 
before  reaching  camp  saw  a  shell  burst  nearly  overhead  but 
just  above  a  clump  of  trees,  and  as  the  limbs  flew  before  the 
broken  iron,  I  registered  a  vow  that  if  I  ever  got  out  of  that 
difficulty  I  would  let  other  fellows  fight  the  next  war.  And 
yet,  I  don't  believe  I  was  more  of  a  coward  or  less  a  fighter 
than  those  who  were  at  the  front  in  active  engagement.  It  is 
an  easier  matter  to  stand  up  and  shoot  than  to  stand  up 
quietly  as  a  mark  without  opportunity  of  shooting  back. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN,  119 

Shortly  after  supper  all  was  comparatively  quiet,  and  just 
outside  my  tent  I  heard  voices  of  men  engaged  in  earnest 
conversation: 

"Say,  Bill,  where  have  you  been  all  day.  There  has  been 
a  lively  scrimmage  going  on." 

"Yes,  I  judged  so,"  answered  a  man  with  a  deep  voice, 
"but  I  kept  well  out  of  way  of  those  bullets  and  shells  till  late 
in  the  afternoon  when  the  stragglers  came  along,  and  I've 
got  enough  for  more  stuff  than  I  can  send  in  two  days." 

"By  George,"  said  the  first  voice,  "you're  mighty  lucky. 
I  haven't  a  line,  and  yet  I  must  send  something.  I'll  tell  you 
what  I '  11  do.  If  you  will  talk  it  off  F 11  take  it  down  short-hand, 
and  we'll  make  two  stories  from  different  points  of  view." 

The  offer  was  accepted,  and  history  was  made  for  the 
benefit  of  envious  upstarts  who  saw  as  little  of  the  battles 
of  Shiloh  and  Corinth  as  did  the  correspondents.  The  people 
knew  more  of  the  details  of  the  battles  than  was  possible  for 
any  person  engaged,  and  they  derived  their  information  from 
sources  that  seemed  perfectly  reliable  because  confirmed  by 
"loyal"  journals  whose  owners  would  never  have  counte- 
nanced such  work,  perhaps,  but  who  always  insisted  upon 
"full  dispatches." 

The  reports  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh  are  made  up  of  those  of 
the  division  commanders.  The  dispatches  of  General  Sher- 
man give  emphasis  to  his  remark  regarding  the  late  attempt 
of  certain  Generals  to  criticise  the  conduct  of  the  Shiloh 
fight:  "Oh,  well,  they  were  farther  away  than  we  were,  and 
could  probably  see  more  of  the  field."  I  have  noted  that  this 
was  usually  the  way  with  army  correspondents,  and  during  the 
fight  at  hiloh  the  correspondents  had  plenty  of  company. 
Let  any  reader  look  over  the  dispatches  sent  by  Sherman 
bearing  on  the  movements  and  the  conclusion  will  be  irre- 
sistible that,  he  at  least,  was  guilty  of  no  carelessness. 


I2O  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  DIVISION,  \ 
CAMP  SHILOH,  April  5,  1862.  f 

"Captain  J.  A.  RAWLINS,  Assistant  Adjutant-General,  Dis- 
trict of  Western    Tennessee. 

"SiR:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  yesterday,  about 
3  p.  M.,  the  lieutenant  commanding  and  seven  men  of  the 
advance  pickets  imprudently  advanced  from  their  post,  and 
were  captured.  I  ordered  Major  Ricker,  of  the  Fifth  Ohio 
Cavalry,  to  proceed  rapidly  to  the  picket-station,  ascertain 
the  truth,  and  act  according  to  circumstances.  He  reached 
the  station,  found  the  pickets  had  been  captured  as  reported, 
and  that  a  company  of  infantry  sent  by  the  brigade  comman- 
der had  gone  forward  in  pursuit  of  some  cavalry.  He  rapidly 
advanced  some  two  miles,  and  found  them  engaged,  charged 
the  enemy,  and  drove  them  along  the  Ridge  road,  till  he 
met  and  received  three  discharges  of  artillery,  when  he  very 
properly  wheeled  under  cover,  and  returned  till  he  met  me. 

"As  soon  as  I  heard  artillery,  I  advanced  with  two  regi- 
ments of  infantry,  and  took  position,  and  remained  until  the 
scattered  companies  of  infantry  and  cavalry  had  returned. 
This  was  after  night. 

"I  infer  that  the  enemy  is  in  some  considerable  force  at 
Pea  Ridge,  that  yesterday  morning  they  crossed  a  brigade  of 
two  regiments  of  infantry,  one  regiment  of  cavalry,  and  one 
battery  of  field-artillery,  to  the  ridge  on  which,  the  Corinth 
road  lies.  They  halted  the  infantry  and  artillery  at  a  point 
about  five  miles  in  my  front,  sent  a  detachment  to  the  lane 
of  General  Meaks,  on  the  north  of  Owl  Creek,  and  the  cavalry 
down  toward  our  camp.  This  cavalry  captured  a  part  of  our 
advance  pickets,  and  afterward  engaged  the  two  companies 
of  Colonel  Buckland's  regiment,  as  described  by  him  in  his 
report  herewith  inclosed.  Our  cavalry  drove  them  back  upon 
their  artillery  and  infantry,  killing  many,  and  bringing  off  ten 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN.  121 

prisoners,  all  of  the  First  Alabama  Cavalry,  whom  I  send  to 
you. 

"We  lost  of  the  pickets  one  first-lieutenant  and  seven  men  of 
the  Ohio  Seventieth  Infantry  (list  inclosed);  one  major,  one 
lieutenant,  and  one  private  of  the  Seventy-second  Ohio, 
taken  prisoners;  eight  privates  wounded  (names  in  full,  em- 
braced in  report  of  Colonel  Buckland,  inclosed  herewith). 

"We  took  ten  prisoners,  and  left  two  Rebels  wounded  and 
many  killed  on  the  field." 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN, 
"Brigadier-General,  Commanding  Division" 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  DIVISION,  ) 
CAMP  SHILOH,  April  10,  1862.  f 

"Captain  J.  A.  RAWLINS,  Assistant  Adjutant-General  to  Gen- 
eral GRANT. 

"STR:  I  had  the  honor  to  report  that,  on  Friday  the  4th 
inst. ,  the  enemy's  cavalry  drove  in  our  pickets,  posted  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  in  advance  of  my  center,  on  the  main  Corinth 
road,  capturing  one  first-lieutenant  and  seven  men;  that  I 
caused  a  pursuit  by  the  cavalry  of  my  division,  driving  them 
back  about  five  miles,  and  killing  many.  On  Saturday  the 
enemy's  cavalry  was  again  very  bold,  coming  well  down  to 
our  front;  yet  I  did  not  believe  they  designed  anything  but  a 
strong  demonstration.  On  Sunday  morning  early,  the  6th 
inst.,  the  enemy  drove  our  advance-guard  back  on  the  main 
body,  when  I  ordered  under  arms  all  my  division,  and  sent 
word  to  General  McClernand,  asking  him  to  support  my  left; 
to  General  Prentiss,  giving  him  notice  that  the  enemy  was  in 
our  front  in  force,  and  to  General  Hurlbut,  asking  him  to 
support  General  Prentiss.  At  that  time — 7  A.  M. — my  divis- 
ion was  arranged  as  follows: 


122  LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"First  Brigade,  composed  of  the  Sixth  Iowa,  Colonel  J.  A. 
McDowell,  Fortieth  Illinois,  Colonel  Hicks;  Forty-sixth  Ohio, 
Colonel  Worthington;  and  the  Morton  battery,  Captain  Behr, 
on  the  extreme  right,  guarding  the  bridge  on  the  Purdy  road 
over  Owl  Creek. 

Second  Brigade,  composed  of  the  Fifty-fifth  Illinois,  Colo- 
nel D.  Stuart;  the  Fifty- fourth  Ohio,  Colonel  T.  Kirby  Smith; 
and  the  Seventy-first  Ohio,  Colonel  Mason,  on  the  extreme 
left,  guarding  the  ford  over  Lick  Creek. 

"Third  Brigade,  composed  of  the  Seventy-seventh  Ohio, 
Colonel  Hildebrand;  the  Fifty-third  Ohio,  Colonel  Appier; 
and  the  Fifty-seventh  Ohio,  Colonel  Mungen,  on  the  left  of 
the  Corinth  road,  its  right  resting  on  Shiloh  meeting-house. 

"Fourth  Brigade,  composed  of  the  Seventy-second  Ohio, 
Colonel  Buckland;  the  Forty-eighth  Ohio,  Colonel  Sullivan; 
and  the  Seventieth  Ohio,  Colonel  Cockerill,  on  the  right  of 
the  Corinth  road,  its  left  resting  on  Shiloh  meeting-house. 

"Two  batteries  of  artillery — Taylor's  and  Waterhouse's— 
were  posted,  the  former  at  Shiloh,  and  the  latter  on  a  ridge 
to  the  left,  with  a  front-fire  over  open  ground  between  Mun- 
gen's  and  Appier's  regiments.  The  cavalry,  eight  companies 
of  the  Fourth  Illinois,  under  Colonel  Dickey,  were  posted  in 
a  large  open  field  to  the  left  ?.nd  rear  of  Shiloh  meeting-house, 
which  I  regarded  as  the  center  of  my  position. 

"Shortly  after  7  A.  M.,  with  my  entire  staff,  I  rode  along  a 
portion  of  our  front,  and  when  in  the  open  field  before  Ap- 
pier's regiment,  the  enemy's  pickets  opened  a  brisk  fire  upon 
my  party,  killing  my  orderly,  Thomas  D.  Holliday,  of  Com- 
pany H,  Second  Illinois  Cavalry.  The  fire  came  from  the 
bushes  which  line  a  small  stream  that  rises  in  the  field  in 
front  of  Appier's  camp,  and  flows  to  the  north  along  my 
whole  front. 

"This  valley  afforded  the  enemy  partial  cover;  but  our  men 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  123 

were  so    posted  as  to    have   a   good   fire    at  them    as   they 
crossed  the  valley  and  ascended  the  rising  ground  on  our  side. 

"About  8  A.  M.  I  saw  the  glistening  bayonets  of  heavy 
masses  of  infantry  to  our  left  front  in  the  woods  beyond  the 
small  stream  alluded  to,  and  became  satisfied  for  the  first 
time  that  the  enemy  designed  a  determined  attack  on  our 
whole  camp. 

"All  the  regiments  of  my  division  were  then  in  line  of  battle 
at  their  proper  posts.  I  rode  to  Colonel  Appier,  and  ordered 
him  to  hold  his  ground  at  all  hazard,  as  he  held  the  left  flank 
of  our  first  line  of  battle,  and  I  informed  him  that  he  had  a 
good  battery  on  his  right,  arid  strong  support  to  his  rear. 
General  McClernand  had  promptly  and  energetically  re- 
sponded to  my  request,  and  had  sent  me  three  regiments  which 
were  posted  to  protect  Waterhouse's  battery,  and  the  left 
flank  of  my  line. 

"The  battle  opened  by  the  enemy's  battery,  in  the  woods 
to  our  front,  throwing  shells  into  our  camp.  Taylor's  and 
Waterhouse's  batteries  promptly  responded,  and  I  then  ob- 
served heavy  battalions  of  infantry  passing  obliquely  to  the 
left,  across  the  open  field  in  Appier's  front;  also,  other  col- 
umns advancing  directly  upon  my  division.  Our  infantry 
and  artillery  opened  along  the  whole  line,  and  the  battle 
became  general.  Other  heavy  masses  of  the  enemy's  forces 
kept  passing  across  the  field  to  our  left,  and  directing  their 
course  on  General  Prentiss.  I  saw  at  once  that  the  enemy 
designed  to  pass  my  left  flank,  and  fall  upon  Generals  Mc- 
Clernand and  Prentiss,  whose  line  of  camps  was  almost  par- 
allel with  the  Tennessee  River,  and  about  two  miles  back 
from  it.  Very  soon  the  sound  of  artillery  and  musketry 
announced  that  General  Prentiss  was  engaged;  and  about  9  A. 
M.  I  judged  that  he  was  falling  back.  About  this  time  Ap- 
pier's regiment  broke  in  disorder,  followed  by  Mungen's  regi- 


124  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERM/.N. 

ment,  and  the  enemy  pressed  forward  on  Waterhouse's  bat- 
tery, thereby  exposed. 

"The  three  Illinois  regiments  in  immediate  support  of  this 
battery  stood  for  some  time;  but  the  enemy's  advance  was 
so  vigorous,  and  the  fire  so  severe,  that  when  Colonel  Raith, 
of  the  Forty-third  Illinois  received  a  severe  wound  and  fell 
from  his  horse,  his  regiment  and  the  others  manifested  dis- 
order, and  the  enemy  got  possession  of  three  guns  of  this 
(Waterhouse's)  battery.  Although  our  left  was  thus  turned, 
and  the  enemy  was  pressing  our  whole  line,  I  deemed  Shiloh 
so  important,  that  I  remained  by  it  and  renewed  my  orders 
to  Colonels  McDowell  and  Buckland  to  hold  their  ground; 
and  we  did  hold  these  positions  until  about  10  A.  M.,  when 
the  enemy  got  his  artillery  to  the  rear  of  our  left  flank  and 
some  change  became  absolutely  necessary.  Two  regiments 
of  Hildebrand's  brigade — Appier's  and  Mungen's — had  al- 
ready disappeared  to  the  rear,  and  Hildebrand's  own  regi- 
ment was  in  disorder.  I  therefore  gave  orders  for  Taylor's  bat- 
tery— still  at  Shiloh — to  fall  back  as  far  as  the  Purdy  and 
Hamburgh  road,  and  for  McDowell  and  Buckland  to  adopt 
that  road  as  their  new  line.  I  rode  across  the  angle  and  met 
Behr's  battery  at  the  cross-roads,  and  ordered  it  immediately 
to  come  into  battery,  action  right.  Captain  Behr  gave  the 
order,  but  he  was  almost  immediately  shot  from  his  horse, 
when  drivers  and  gunners  fled  in  disorder,  carrying  off  the 
caissons,  and  abandoning  five  out  of  six  guns,  without  firing 
a  shot.  The  enemy  pressed  on,  gaining  this  battery,  and 
we  were  again  forced  to  choose  a  new  line  of  defense.  Hil- 
debrand's brigade  had  substantially  disappeared  from  the  field, 
though  he  himself  bravely  remained.  McDowell's  and  Buck- 
land's  brigades  maintained  their  organizations,  and  were  con- 
ducted by  my  aids,  so  as  to  join  on  General  McClernand's 
right,  thus  abandoning  my  original  camps  and  line.  This 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  125 

was  about  10:30  A.  M,  at  which  time  the  enemy  had  made 
a  furious  attack  on  General  McClernand's  whole  front.  He 
struggled  most  determinedly,  but,  finding  him  pressed,  I 
moved  McDowell's  brigade  directly  against  the  left  flank  of 
the  enemy,  forced  him  back  some  distance,  and  then  directed 
the  men  to  avail  themselves  of  every  cover — trees,  fallen 
timber,  and  a  wooded  valley  to  our  right.  We  held  this 
position  for  four  long  hours,  sometimes  gaining  and  at 
others  losing  ground,  General  McClernand  and  myself  act- 
ing in  perfect  concert,  and  struggling  to  maintain  this  line. 
While  we  were  so  hard  pressed,  two  Iowa  regiments  ap- 
proached from  the  rear,  but  could  not  be  brought  up  to  the 
severe  fire  that  was  raging  in  our  front,  and  General  Grant, 
who  visited  us  on  that  ground,  will  remember  our  situation 
about  3  P.  M.  ;  but  about  4  p.  M.  it  was  evident  that  Hurl- 
but's  line  had  been  driven  back  to  the  river;  and  knowing  that 
General  Lew  Wallace  was  coming  with  re-enforcements  from 
Crump's  Landing,  General  McClernand  and  I,  on  consulta- 
tion, selected  a  new  line  of  defense,  with  its  right  covering 
a  bridge  by  which  General  Wallace  had  to  approach.  We 
fell  back  as  well  as  we  could,  gathering  in  addition  to  our 
own  such  scattered  forces  as  we  could  find,  and  formed  the 
new  line. 

"During  this  change  the  enemy's  cavalry  charged  us,  but 
were  handsomely  repulsed  by  the  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  Regi- 
ment. The  Fifth  Ohio  Battery,  which  had  come  up,  ren- 
dered good  service  in  holding  the  enemy  in  check  for  some 
time,  and  Major  Taylor  also  came  up  with  another  battery 
and  got  into  position  just  in  time  to  get  a  good  flank-fire 
upon  the  enemy's  column  as  he  pressed  on  General  McCler- 
nand's right,  checking  his  advance;  when  General  McCler- 
rand's  division  made  a  fine  charge  on  the  enemy  and  drove 
him  back  into  the  ravines  to  our  front  and  right.  I  had  a 


126  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

clear  field,  about  two  hundred  yards  wide,  in  my  immediate 
front,    and   contented  myself  with   keeping  the   enemy's  in- 
fantry at  that  distance  during  the  rest   of  the  day.      In    this 
position  we  rested  for  the  night.      My  command  had  become 
decidedly  of  a  mixed  character.      Buckland's  brigade  was  the 
only  one  that  retained  its  organization.      Colonel  Hildebrand 
was  personally  there,  but  his  brigade  was  not.      Colonel  Mc- 
Dowell had  been  severely  injured  by  a  fall  off   his  horse,  and 
had  gone  to  the  river,  and  the  three  regiments  of  his  brig- 
ade   were    not   in   line.      The  Thirteenth   Missouri,    Colonel 
Crafts  J.  Wright,  had  reported  to  me  on  the  field,  and  fought 
well,  retaining  its  regimental  organization;  and   it   formed  a 
part  of  my  line  during  Sunday  night  and  all  Monday.      Other 
fragments  of  regiments   and  companies   had   also  fallen   into 
my  division,  and  acted  with  it   during  the   remainder  of   the 
battle.      Generals  Grant  and  Buell  visited  me  in  our  bivouac 
that  evening,  and  from  them  I  learned  the  situation  of  affairs 
on  other  parts  of  the   field.      General  Wallace    arrived  from 
Crump's  Landing  shortly  after  dark  and  formed  his  line  to  my 
right  rear.     It  rained  hard  during  the  night,  but  our  men  were 
in  good  spirks,  lay   on  their  arms,  being   satisfied  with  such 
bread  and  meat  as  could  be  gathered  at  the  neighboring  camps, 
and  determined  to  redeem  on  Monday  the  losses  of  Sunday. 
"At  daylight  of  Monday,  I  received  General  Grant's  orders 
to  advance  and  recapture  our  original   camps.      I   dispatched 
several   members   of   my  staff  to   bring    up  all  the  men  they 
could  find,  especially   the   brigade  of    Colonel   Stuart,  which 
had  been  separated  from  the  division  all  the  day  before;  and, 
at  the  appointed  time  the  division,  or  rather  what   remained 
of   it,   with   the   Thirteenth    Missouri   and   other   fragments, 
moved  forward  and  re-occupied   the   ground  on   the  extreme 
right  of  General  McClernand's  camp,  where  we  attracted  the 
fire  of   a  battery   located   near  Colonel    McDowell's    former 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN.  127 

headquarters.  Here  I  remained,  patiently  waiting  for  the 
sound  of  General  Buell's  advance  upon  the  main  Corinth  road. 
About  10  A.  M.  the  heavy  firing  in  that  direction,  and 
its  steady  approach  satisfied  me;  and  General  Wallace 
being  on  our  right  flank  with  his  well-conducted  division,  I 
led  the  head  of  my  column  to  General  McClernand's  right, 
formed  line  of  battle,  facing  south,  with  Buckland's  brigade 
directly  across  the  ridge,  and  Stuart's  brigade  on  its  right  in 
the  woods;  and  thus  advanced,  steadily  and  slowly,  under  a 
heavy  fire  of  musketry  and  artillery.  Taylor  had  just  got  to 
me  from  the  rear,  where  he  had  gone  for  ammunition,  and 
brought  up  three  guns,  which  I  ordered  into  position,  to  ad- 
vance by  hand  firing.  These  guns  belonged  to  Company  A, 
Chicago  Light  Artillery,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  P.  P. 
Wood,  and  did  most  excellent  service.  Under  cover  of  their 
fire,  we  advanced  till  we  reached  the  point  where  the  Cor- 
inth road  crosses  the  line  of  McClernand's  camp,  and  here 
I  saw  for  the  first  time  the  well-ordered  and  compact  columns 
of  General  Buell's  Kentucky  forces,  whose  soldierly  move- 
ments at  once  gave  confidence  to  our  newer  and  less  disci- 
plined men.  Here  I  saw  Willich's  regiment  advance  upon  a 
point  of  water-oaks  and  thicket,  behind  which  I  knew  the 
enemy  was  in  great  strength,  and  enter  it  in  beautiful  style 
Then  arose  the  severest  musketry-fire  I  ever  heard,  and  lasted 
some  twenty  minutes,  when  this  splendid  regiment  had  to 
fall  back.  This  green  point  of  timber  is  about  five  hundred 
yards  east  of  Shiloh  meeting-house,  and  it  was  evident  here 
was  to  be  the  struggle.  The  enemy  could  also  be  seen  form- 
ing his  lines  to  the  south.  General  McClernand  sending  to  me 
for  artillery,  I  detached  to  him  the  three  guns  of  Wood's 
battery,  with  which  he  speedily  drove  them  back,  and,  seeing 
some  others  to  the  rear,  I  sent  one  of  my  staff  to  bring  them 
forward,  when,  by  almost  providential  decree,  they  proved 


128  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

to  be  two  twenty-four-pound  howitzers  belonging  to  McAlis- 
ter's  battery,  and  served  as  well  as  guns  ever  could  be. 

"This  was  about  2  p.  M.  The  enemy  had  one  battery 
close  by  Shiloh,  and  another  near  the  Hamburgh  road,  both 
pouring  grape  and  canister  upon  any  column  of  troops  that 
advanced  upon  the  green  point  of  water-oaks.  Willich's 
regiment  had  been  repulsed,  but  a  whole  brigade  of  McCook's 
division  advanced  beautifully,  deployed,  and  entered  this 
dreaded  wood.  I  ordered  my  second  brigade  (then  com- 
manded by  Colonel  T.  Kilby  Smith,  Colonel  Stuart  being 
wounded)  to  form  on  its  right,  and  my  fourth  brigade,  Colo- 
nel Buckland,  on  its  right — all  to  advance  abreast  with  this 
Kentucky  brigade  before  mentioned,  which  I  afterward  found 
to  be  Rousseau's  brigade  of  McCook's  division.  I  gave  per- 
sonal direction  to  the  twenty-four-pounder  guns,  whose  well- 
directed  fire  first  silenced  the  enemy's  guns  to  the  left,  and 
afterward  at  the  Shiloh  meeting-house. 

"Rousseau's  brigade  moved  in  splendid  order  steadily  to  the 
front,  sweeping  everything  before  it,  and  at  4  p.  M.  we  stood 
upon  the  ground  of  our  original  front  line;  and  the  enemy 
was  in  full  retreat.  I  directed  my  several  brigades  to  re- 
sume at  once  their  original  camps. 

"Several  times  during  the  battle,  cartridges  gave  out;  but 
General  Grant  had  thoughtfully  kept  a  supply  coming  from 
the  rear.  When  I  appealed  to  regiments  to  stand  fast, 
although  out  of  cartridges,  I  did  so  because,  to  retire  a  regi- 
ment for  any  cause,  has  a  bad  effect  on  others.  I  commend 
the  Fortieth  Illinois  and  Thirteenth  Missouri  for  thus  holding 
their  ground  under  heavy  fire,  although  their  cartridge-bo^es 
were  empty." 

"I  am  ordered  by  General  Grant  to  give  personal  credit 
where  I  think  it  is  due,  and  censure  where  I  think  it  merited. 
I  concede  that  General  McCook's  splendid  division  from  Ken- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

tucky  drove  back  the  enemy  along  the  Corinth  road,  which 
was  the  great  center  of  this  field  of  battle,  where  Beauregard 
commanded  in  person,  supported  by  Bragg' s,  Folk's,  and 
Breckinridge's  divisions.  I  think  Johnston  was  killed  by 
exposing  himself  in  front  of  his  troops,  at  the  time  of  their 
attack  on  Buckland's  brigade  on  Sunday  morning;  although 
in  this  I  may  be  mistaken. 

"My  division  was  made  up  of  regiments  perfectly  new, 
nearly  all  having  received  their  muskets  for  the  first  time  at 
Paducah.  None  of  them  had  ever  been  under  fire  or  beheld 
heavy  columns  of  an  enemy  bearing  down  on  them  as  they 
did  on  last  Sunday. 

"To  expect  of  them  the  coolness  and  steadiness  of  older 
troops  would  be  wrong.  They  knew  not  the  value  of  com- 
bination and  organization.  When  individual  fears  seized 
them,  the  first  impulse  was  to  get  away.  My  third  brigade 
did  break  much  too  soon,  and  I  am  not  yet  advised  where 
they  were  during  Sunday  afternoon  and  Monday  morning. 
Colonel  Hildebrand,  its  commander,  was  as  cool  as  any  man 
I  ever  saw,  and  no  one  could  have  made  stronger  efforts  to 
bold  his  men  to  their  places  than  he  did.  He  kept  his  own 
regiment,  with  individual  exceptions,  in  hand  an  hour  after 
Appier's  and  Mungen's  regiments  had  left  their  proper  field 
of  action.  Colonel  Buckland  managed  his  brigade  well.  I 
commend  him  to  your  notice  as  a  cool,  intelligent,  and  judi- 
cious gentleman,  needing  only  confidence  and  experience  to 
make  a  good  commander.  His  subordinates,  Colonels  Sulli- 
van and  Cockerill,  behaved  with  great  gallantry;  the  former 
receiving  a  severe  wound  on  Sunday,  and  yet  commanding 
and  holding  his  regiment  well  in  hand  all  day,  and  on  Mon- 
day, until  his  right  arm  was  broken  by  a  shot.  Colonel  Cock- 
erill held  a  larger  proportion  of  his  men  than  any  colonel  in 
my  division,  and  was  with  me  from  first  to  last. 
9 


130  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

"Colonel  J.  A.  McDowell,  commanding  the  first  brigade, 
held  his  ground  on  Sunday,  till  I  ordered  him  to  fall  back, 
which  he  did  in  line  of  battle;  and  when  ordered,  he  conduct- 
ed the  attack  on  the  enemy's  left  in  good  style.  In  falling 
back  to  the  next  position,  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse  and 
injured,  and  his  brigade  was  not  in  position  on  Monday  morn- 
ing. His  subordinates,  Colonels  Hicks  and  Worthington, 
displayed  great  personal  courage.  Colonel  Hicks  led  his 
regiment  in  the  attack  on  Sunday,  and  received  a  wound, 
which  it  is  feared  may  prove  mortal.  He  is  a  brave  and 
gallant  gentleman,  and  deserves  well  of  his  country.  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Walcutt,  of  the  Ohio  Forty-sixth,  was  severely 
wounded  on  Sunday,  and  has  been  disabled  ever  since.  My 
second  brigade,  Colonel  Stuart,  was  detached  nearly  two 
miles  from  my  headquarters.  He  had  to  fight  his  own  battle 
on  Sunday,  against  superior  numbers,  as  the  enemy  inter- 
posed between  him  and  General  Prentiss  early  in  the  day. 
Colonel  Stuart  was  wounded  severely,  and  yet  reported  for 
duty'on  Monday  morning,  but  was  compelled  to  leave  during 
the  day,  when  the  command  devolved  on  Colonel  T.  Kilby 
Smith,  who  was  always  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  led 
the  brigade  handsomely 

"I  have  not  yet  received  Colonel  Stuart's  report  of  the 
operations  of  his  brigade  during  the  time  he  was  detached, 
and  must  therefore  forbear  to  mention  names.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Kyle,  of  the  Seventy-first,  was  mortally  wounded  on 
Sunday,  but  the  regiment  itself  I  did  not  see,  as  only  a  small 
fragment  of  it  was  with  the  brigade  when  it  joined  the  divis- 
ion on  Monday  morning.  Great  credit  is  due  the  fragments 
of  men  of  the  disordered  regiments  who  kept  in  the  advance. 
I  observed  and  noticed  them,  but  until  the  brigadiers  and 
colonels  make  their  reports,  I  cannot  venture  to  name  indi- 
viduals, but  will  in  due  season  notice  all  who  kept  in  our 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  13 1 

front  line,  as  well  as  those  who  preferred  to  keep  back  near 
the  steam-boat  landing.  I  will  also  send  a  full  list  of  the 
killed,  wounded  and  missing,  by  name,  rank,  company,  and 
regiment.  ******** 

"The  enemy  captured  seven  of  our  guns  on  Sunday,  but  on 
Monday  we  recovered  seven — not  the  identical  guns  we  had 
lost,  but  enough  in  number  to  balance  the  account.  At  the 
time  of  recovering  our  camps,  our  men  were  so  fatigued  that 
we  could  not  follow  the  retreating  masses  of  the  enemy;  but  on 
the  following  day  I  followed  up  with  Buckland's  and  Ililde- 
brand's  brigade  for  six  miles,  the  result  of  which,  I  have  al- 
ready reported. 

"Of  my  personal  staff,  I  can  only  speak  with  praise  and 
thanks.  I  think  they  smelled  as  much  gunpowder  and  heard 
as  many  cannon-balls  and  bullets  as  must  satisfy  their  am- 
bition. Captain  Hammond,  my  chief  of  staff,  though  in 
feeble  health,  was  very  active  in  rallying  broken  troops,  en- 
couraging the  steadfast  and  aiding  to  form  the  lines  of  defense 
and  attack.  I  recommend  him  to  your  notice.  Major  Sang- 
er's  intelligence,  quick  perception,  and  rapid  execution,  were 
of  very  great  value  to  me,  especially  in  bringing  into  line  the 
batteries  that  co-operated  so  efficiently  in  our  movements. 
Captains  McCoy  and  Dayton,  aides-decamp,  were  with  me  all 
the  time,  carrying  orders,  and  acting  with  coolness,  spirit, 
and  courage.  To  Surgeon  Hartshorne  and  Dr.  L'  Hommedieu 
hundreds  of  wounded  men  are  indebted  for  the  kind  and  excel- 
lent treatment  received  on  the  field  of  battle  and  in  the  various 
temporary  hospitals  created  along  the  line  of  our  operations. 
They  worked  day  and  night,  and  did  not  rest  till  all  the 
wounded  of  our  own  troops  as  well  as  of  the  enemy  were  in 
safe  and  comfortable  shelter.  To  Major  Taylor,  chief  of 
artillery,  I  feel  under  deep  obligations,  for  his  good  sense  and 
judgment  in  managing  the  batteries,  on  which  so  much  de- 


132  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

pended.  I  inclose  his  report  and  indorse  his  recommenda- 
tions. The  cavalry  of  my  command  kept  to  the  rear,  and 
took  little  part  in  the  action;  but  it  would  have  been  madness 
to  have  exposed  horses  to  the  musketry-fire  under  which  we 
were  compelled  to  remain,  from  Sunday  at  8  A.  M.  till  Mon- 
day at  4  P.  M. 

"Captain  Kossack,  of  the  engineers,  was  with  me  all  the 
time,  and  was  of  great  assistance.  I  inclose  his  sketch  of 
the  battle-field,  which  is  the  best  I  have  seen,  and  which 
will  enable  you  to  see  the  various  positions  occupied  by  my 
division,  as  well  as  of  the  others  that  participated  in  the 
battle.  I  will  also  send  in,  during  the  day,  the  detailed  re- 
ports of  my  brigadiers  and  colonels,  and  will  indorse  them 
with  such  remarks  as  I  deem  proper. 

"I  am,  with  much  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN, 
"Brigadier-General  Commanding  Fifth  Division" 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  DIVISION,  ) 
Tuesday,  April  8,  1862.  \ 

"SiR:  With  the  cavalry  placed  at  my  command  and  two 
brigades  of  my  fatigued  troops,  I  went  this  morning  out  on 
the  Corinth  road.  One  after  another  of  the  abandoned  camps 
of  the  enemy  lined  the  roads,  with  hospital-flags  for  their  pro- 
tection; at  all  we  found  more  or  less  wounded  and  dead  men. 
At  the  forks  of  the  road  I  found  the  head  of  General  T.  J. 
Wood's  division  of  Buell's  Army.  I  ordered  cavalry  to  ex- 
amine both  roads  leading  toward  Corinth,  and  found  the 
enemy  on  both.  Colonel  Dickey,  of  the  Fourth  Illinois  Cav- 
alry, asking  for  re-enforcements,  I  ordered  General  Wood  to 
advance  the  head  of  his  column  cautiously  on  the  left-hand 
road,  while  I  conducted  the  head  of  the  third  brigade  of  my 
division  up  the  right-hand  road.  About  half  a  mile  from  the 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  133 

forks  was  a  clear  field,  through  which  the  road  passed,  and, 
immediately  beyond,  a  space  of  some  two  hundred  yards  of 
fallen  timber,  and  beyond  that  an  extensive  Rebel  camp. 
The  enemy's  cavalry  could  be  seen  in  this  camp;  after  re- 
connoissance,  I  ordered  the  two  advance  companies  of  the 
Ohio  Seventy-seventh,  Colonel  Hildebrand,  to  deploy  for- 
ward as  skirmishers,  and  the  regiment  itself  forward  into  line, 
with  an  interval  of  one  hundred  yards.  In  this  order  we  ad- 
vanced cautiously  until  the  skirmishers  were  engaged.  Tak- 
ing it  for  granted  this  disposition  would  clear  the  camp,  I  held 
Colonel  Dickey's  Fourth  Illinois  Cavalry  ready  for  the  charge. 
The  enemy's  cavalry  came  down  boldly  at  a  charge,  led  by 
General  Forrest  in  person,  breaking  through  our  line  of 
skirmishers;  when  the  regiment  of  infantry,  without  ^ause, 
broke,  threw  away  their  muskets,  and  fled.  The  ground  was 
admirably  adapted  for  a  defense  of  infantry  against  cavalry 
being  miry  and  covered  with  fallen  timber. 

"As  the  regiment  of  infantry  broke,  Dickey's  Cavalry  began 
to  discharge  their  carbines,  and  fell  into  disorder.  I  instantly 
sent  orders  to  the  rear  for  the  brigade  to  form  line  of  battle, 
which  was  promptly  executed.  The  broken  infantry  and 
cavalry  rallied  on  this  line,  and,  as  the  enemy's  cavalry  came 
to  it,  our  cavalry  in  turn  charged  and  drove  them  from  the 
field.  I  advanced  the  entire  brigade  over  the  same  ground 
and  sent  Colonel  Dickey's  cavalry  a  mile  farther  on  the  road. 
On  examining  the  ground  which  had  been  occupied  by  the 
Seventy-seventh  Ohio,  we  found  fifteen  of  our  men  dead  and 
about  twenty-five  wounded.  I  sent  for  wagons  and  had  all 
the  wounded  carried  back  to  camp,  and  caused  the  dead  to 
be  buried — also  the  whole  Rebel  camp  to  be  destroyed. 

"Here  we  found  much  ammunition  for  field-pieces,  which 
was  destroyed;  also  two  caissons,  and  a  general  hospital, 
with  about  two  hundred  and  eighty  Confederates  wounded, 


134  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

and  about  fifty  of  our  own  wounded  men.  Not  having  the 
means  of  bringing  them  off,  Colonel  Dickey,  by  my  orders, 
took  a  surrender,  signed  by  the  medical  director  (Lyle)  and 
by  all  the  attending  surgeons,  and  a  pledge  to  report  them- 
selves to  you  as  prisoners  of  war;  also  a  pledge  that  our 
wounded  should  be  carefully  attended  to,  and  surrendered 
to  us  to-morrow  as  soon  as  ambulances  could  go  out.  I 
inclose  this  written  document,  and  request  that  you  cause 
wagons  or  ambulances  for  our  wounded  to  be  sent  to-mor- 
row, and  that  wagons  be  sent  to  bring  in  the  many  tents  be- 
longing to  us  which  are  pitched  along  the  road  for  four  miles 
out.  I  did  not  destroy  them,  because  I  knew  the  enemy 
could  not  move  them.  The  roads  are  very  bad,  and  are 
strewn  with  abandoned  wagons,  ambulances,  and  limber- 
boxes.  The  enemy  has  succeeded  in  carrying  off  the  guns, 
but  has  crippled  his  batteries  by  abandoning  the  hind  lim- 
ber-boxes of  at  bast  twenty  caissons.  I  am  satisfied  the 
enemy's  infantry  and  artillery  passed  Lick  Creek  this  morning, 
traveling  all  of  last  night,  and  that  he  left  to  his  rear  all  his 
cavalry,  which  has  protected  his  retreat;  but  signs  of  confu- 
sion and  disorder  mark  the  whole  road.  The  check  sustained 
by  us  at  the  fallen  timber  delayed  our  advance,  so  that  night 
came  upon  us  before  the  wounded  were  provided  for  and 
the  dead  buried,  and  our  troops  being  fagged  out  by  three 
days'  hard  fighting,  exposure,  and  privation,  I  ordered  them 
back  to  their  camps,  where  they  now  are. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  T.   SHERMAN, 
"Brigadier-General  Commanding  Division" 

Notwithstanding  the  extravagant  reports  prevalent  at  the 
North,  and  due  entirely  in  the  first  instance  to  the  versions 
of  the  battle  forwarded  by  correspondents  under  circum- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

stances  I  have  described,  General  Grant  maintained  a  discreet 
and  manly  silence,  and  General  Sherman  always  shielded  as 
far  as  possible  every  soldier  and  commander  who  had  tried  to 
do  his  duty.  Writing  in  the  quiet  of  his  study  long  after  the 
war,  General  Sherman  modestly  speaks  of  his  own  share  in 
the  work,  and  gives  due  credit  to  others.  Where  he  might  have 
gained  personal  advantage  by  joining  in  the  cry  against  General 
Grant,  and  especially  in  this  case  after  the  war  had  closed, 
General  Sherman  was  always  faithful  to  that  friendship  formed 
early  in  the  war  and  testified  to  so  often  by  both  these  heroes. 
Referring  to  these  cruel  reports,  General  Sherman  writes: 

"Personally  I  saw  General  Grant,  who  with  his  staff  visited 
me  about  10  A.  M.  of  the  sixth,  when  we  were  desperately 
engaged.  But  we  had  checked  the  headlong  assault  of  our 
enemy,  and  then  held  our  ground.  This  gave  him  great 
satisfaction,  and  he  told  me  that  things  did  not  look  as  well 
over  on  the  left.  He  also  told  me  that  on  his  way  up  from 
Savannah  that  morning  he  had  stopped  at  Crump's  Landing, 
and  had  ordered  Lew  Wallace's  division  to  cross  over  Lick 
Creek,  so  as  to  come  up  on  my  right,  telling  me  to  look  out 
for  him.  He  again  came  to  me  just  before  dark,  and  de- 
scribed the  last  assault  made  by  the  Rebels  at  the  ravine,  near 
the  steamboat-landing,  which  he  had  repelled  by  a  heavy 
battery  collected  under  Colonel  J.  D.  Webtser  and  other 
officers,  and  he  was  convinced  that  the  battle  was  over  for 
that  day.  He  ordered  me  to  be  ready  to  assume  the  offen- 
sive in  the  morning,  saying  that,  as  he  had  observed  at  Fort 
Donelson  at  the  crisis  of  the  battle,  both  sides  seemed  de- 
feated, and  whoever  assumed  the  offensive  was  sure  to  win. 
General  Grant  also  explained  to  me  that  General  Buell  had 
reached  the  bank  of  the  Tennessee  River  opposite  Pittsburg 
Landing,  and  was  in  the  act  of  ferrying  his  troops  across  at 
the  time  he  was  speaking  to  me. 


136  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

"About  half  an  hour  afterward  General  Buell  himself  rode 
up  to  where  I  was,  accompanied  by  Colonels  Fry,  Michler, 
and  others  of  his  staff.  I  was  dismounted  at  the  time,  and 
General  Buell  made  of  me  a  good  many  significant  inquiries 
about  matters  and  things  generally.  By  the  aid  of  a  manu- 
script map  made  by  myself,  I  pointed  out  to  him  our  positions 
as  they  had  been  in  the  morning,  and  our  then  positions;  I 
also  explained  to  him  that  my  right  then  covered  the  bridge 
over  Lick  Creek  by  which  we  had  all  day  been  expecting  Lew 
Wallace;  that  McClernand  was  on  my  left,  Hurlbut  on  his 
left,  and  so  on.  But  Buell  said  he  had  come  up  from  the 
landing,  and  had  not  seen  our  men,  of  whose  existence  in 
fact  he  seemed  to  doubt.  I  insisted  that  I  had  five  thousand 
good  men  still  left  in  line,  and  thought  that  McClernand 
had  as  many  more,  and  that  with  what  was  left  of  Hurl- 
but's,  W.  H.  L.  Wallace's,  and  Prentiss's  divisions,  we 
ought  to  have  eighteen  thousand  men  fit  for  battle.  I  reck- 
oned that  ten  thousand  of  our  men  were  dead,  wounded,  or 
prisoners,  and  that  the  enemy's  loss  could  not  be  much  less. 
Buell  said  that  Nelson's,  McCook's,  and  Crittenden's  divisions 
of  his  army,  containing  eighteen  thousand  men,  had  arrived 
and  could  cross  over  in  the  night,  and  be  ready  for  the  next 
day's  battle.  I  argued  that  with  these  re-enforcements  we 
could  sweep  the  field.  Buell  seemed  to  mistrust  us,  and  repeat- 
edly said  that  he  did  not  like  the  looks  of  things,  especially 
about  the  boat-landing,  and  I  really  feared  he  would  not 
cross  over  his  army  that  night,  lest  he  should  become  in- 
volved in  our  general  disaster.  He  did  not,  of  course,  un- 
derstand the  shape  of  the  ground,  and  asked  me  for  the  use 
of  my  map,  which  I  lent  him  on  the  promise  that  he  would 
return  it.  He  handed  it  to  Major  Michler  to  have  it  copied, 
and  the  original  returned  to  me,  which  Michler  did  two  or  three 
days  after  the  battle.  Buell  did  cross  over  that  night,  and  the 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  137 

next  day  we  assumed  the  offensive  and  swept  the  field,  thus 
gaining  the  battle  decisively.  Nevertheless,  the  controversy 
was  started  and  kept  up,  mostly  to  the  personal  prejudice  of 
General  Grant,  who  as  usual  maintained  an  imperturbable 
silence. 

"After  the  battle,  a  constant  stream   of  civilian   surgeons, 
and  Sanitary  Commission  agents,  men  and  women,  came  up 
the  Tennessee  to  bring  relief   to  the  thousands  of  maimed 
and  wounded  soldiers  for  whom  we  had  imperfect    means  of 
shelter  and  care.     These  people  caught  up  the  camp-stories, 
which  on  their  return  home  they  retailed  through  their  local 
papers,  usually  elevating  their  own  neighbors  into  heroes,  but 
decrying  all  others.     Among  them  was  Lieutenant-Governor 
Stanton,    of  Ohio,  who  published  in   Bellefontaine,  Ohio,  a 
most  abusive  article  about  General  Grant  and  his  subordinate 
generals.     As  General  Grant  did  not  and  would  not  take  up  the 
cudgels,  I  did  so.     My  letter  in  reply  to  Stanton,  dated  June 
10,  1862,  was  published  in  the  Cincinnati  Commercial  soon 
after  its  date.     To  this  Lieutenant-Governor  Stanton  replied 
and  I  further  rejoined  in  a  letter  dated  July  12,  1862.     These 
letters  are  too  personal  to  be  revived.     By  this  time  the  good 
people    of  the  North  had  begun  to   have   their  eyes   opened, 
and  to  give  us  in  the  field  more  faith  and  support.      Stanton 
was  never  again  elected  to   any  public  office,  and   was  com- 
monly spoken   of  as  "the   late   Mr.    Stanton."     He   is  now 
dead,  and  I  doubt  not  in  life  he  often   regretted  his    mistake 
in   attempting  to  gain  popular  fame  by   abusing  the  army- 
leaders,    then  as  now  an  easy  and   favorite   mode  of  gaining 
notoriety,  if  not   popularity.     Of  course  subsequent  events 
gave   General   Grant   and   most  of  the  other  actors  in  that 
battle  their  appropriate   place  in   history,  but   the  danger  of 
sudden  popular  clamors  is  well  illustrated  by  this  case. 

"The  battle  of  Shiloh,  or  Pittsburg  Landing,  was  one  of  the 


I3&'  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

most  fiercely  contested  of  the  war.  On  the  morning  of  April 
6,  1862,  the  five  divisions  of  McClernand,  Prentiss,  Hurlbut, 
W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  and  Sherman,  aggregated  about  thirty-two 
thousand  men.  We  had  no  intrenchments  of  any  sort,  on  the 
theory  that  as  soon  as  Buell  arrived  we  would  march  to  Corinth 
to  attack  the  enemy.  The  Rebel  army,  commanded  by  Gen- 
eral Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  was,  according  to  their  own  re- 
ports and  admissions,  forty-five  thousand  strong,  had  the 
momentum  of  attack,  and  beyond  all  question  fought  skillfully 
from  early  morning  till  about  2  p.  M.  ,  when  their  commander- 
in-chief  was  killed  by  a  minie-ball  in  the  calf  of  his  leg,  which 
penetrated  the  boot  and  severed  the  main  artery.  There  was 
then  a  perceptible  lull  for  a  couple  of  hours,  when  the  attack 
was  renewed,  but  with  much  less  vehemence,  and  continued  up 
to  dark.  Early  at  night  the  division  of  Lew  Wallace  arrived 
from  the  other  side  of  Snake  Creek,  not  having  fired  a  shot. 
A  very  small  part  of  General  Buell 's  army  was  on  our  side 
of  the  Tennessee  River  that  evening,  and  their  loss  was  trivial. 
"During  that  night,  the  three  divisions,  of  McCook,  Nelson, 
and  Crittenden,  were  ferried  across  the  Tennessee,  and  fought 
with  us  the  next  day  (7th).  During  that  night,  also,  the  two 
wooden  gunboats,  Tyler,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Gwin,  and 
Lexington,  Lieutenant  Shirk,  both  of  the  regular  navy,  caused 
shells  to  be  thrown  toward  that  part  of  the  field  of  battle  known 
to  be  occupied  by  the  enemy.  Beauregard  afterward  reported 
his  entire  loss  as  ten  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-nine. 
Our  aggregate  loss,  made  up  from  official  statements,  shows 
seventeen  hundred  killed,  seven  thousand  four  hundred  and 
ninety-five  wounded,  and  three  thousand  and  twenty-two 
prisoners;  aggregate,  twelve  thousand  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enteen, of  which  twenty-one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  were  in 
Buell's  army,  leaving  for  that  of  Grant  ten  thousand  and  fifty. 
This  result  is  a  fair  measure  of  the  amount  of  fighting  done  by 
each  army." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

OPENING    THE     MISSISSIPPI — TENTATIVE     MOVEMENTS,    AND 

STRANGE    INTERFERENCE  WITH  FIELD  COMMANDERS 

FROM    WASHINGTON. 

Although  the  military  operations  which  had  resulted  thus 
successfully  had  been  directed  from  the  headquarters  of  the 
army  by  General  Halleck,  it  was  a  long  distance  from  St.  Louis 
to  the  points  at  which  active  and  effective  movements  were 
being  made.  General  Sherman  speaks  of  his  confidence  in 
General  Halleck,  and  yet  it  is  easy  to  see  that  he  shared  the 
general  disappointment  when  the  reorganization  of  the  entire 
army,  Halleck  taking  the  field  in  person,  resulted  in  the  prac- 
tical retirement  of  General  Grant.  While  the  operations 
already  described  were  going  on,  the  enemy  was  being  har- 
assed at  other  points,  and  for  once  the  war  was  being  con- 
ducted in  accordance  with  the  expressed  wishes  "of  the  coun- 
try"— by  which  is  meant,  of  course,  in  accordance  with  the 
plans  of  newspaper  correspondents.  These  very  astute  gen- 
tlemen had  discovered  that  somebody  might — to  use  their 
own  slang — "get  very  badly  left"  if  they  did  not  watch  care- 
fully what  was  being  done  and  be  prepared  to  "write  up"  the 
proper  officer  to  a  greatness  only  possible  as  the  result  of 
favorable  criticism.  They  had  seen  the  force  of  their  blows 
against  General  Sherman,  and  now  were  filling  the  mind  of 
General  Halleck  with  false  statements  regarding  General 
Grant's  part  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh. 

That  this  influence  was  the  direct  cause  of  Grant's  practical 
retirement  cannot  be  questioned.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 


I4O  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

sissippi  Admiral  Farragut  was  co-operating  with  General 
Butler;  General  Pope  and  Admiral  Foote  were  bombarding 
Island  Number  10,  and  the  conquest  of  the  Mississippi  seemed 
almost  assured,  if  the  successes  should  be  followed  by  con- 
tinuous advance.  But  a  few  days  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh 
General  Halleck  came  down  from  St.  Louis  and  was  attended 
by  his  staff,  composed  of  General  G.  W.  Cullum,  U.  S.  En- 
gineers, as  chief;  Colonel  George  Thorn,  U.  S.  Engineers;  and 
Colonels  Kelton  and  Kemper,  adjutant-generals.  It  was  clear 
his  mind  had  been  prejudiced  by  rumors  to  the  detriment  of 
General  Grant,  for  he  issued  an  order,  reorganizing  the  whole 
army.  General  Buell's  Army  of  the  Ohio  constituted  the 
center;  General  Pope's  army,  was  the  left;  the  right  was  made 
up  of  Sherman's  andHurlbut's  divisions,  belonging  to  the  old 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  two  new  ones,  made  up  from 
the  fragments  of  the  divisions  of  Prentiss  and  C.  F.  Smith, 
and  of  troops  commanded  by  Generals  T.  W.  Sherman  and 
Davies.  General  George  H.  Thomas  was  taken  from  Buell, 
to  command  the  right.  McClernand's  and  Lew  Wallace's 
divisions  were  styled  the  reserve,  to  be  commanded  by  Mc- 
Clernand.  General  Grant  was  substantially  left  out,  and 
was  named  "second  in  command,"  with  no  well-defined  au- 
thority. He  still  retained  his  old  staff,  composed  of  Rawlins, 
Adjutant-General;  Riggin,  Lagow,  and  Hilyer,  aides;  and  a 
small  company  of  the  Fourth  Illinois  Cavalry  as  an  escort.  For 
more  than  a  month  he  thus  remained,  frequently  visiting 
friends,  but  rarely  complaining;  though  all  could  see  that  he 
felt  deeply  the  indignity  heaped  upon  him. 

General  Thomas  at  once  assumed  command  of  the  right 
wing. 

Corinth  was  about  thirty  miles  distant,  and  we  all  knew 
that  we  should  find  there  the  same  army  with  which  we 
had  so  fiercely  grappled  at  Shiloh,  re-enforced,  and  com- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  14! 

manded  by  general  Beauregard  in  place  of  Johnston,  who  had 
fallen  at  Shiloh.  But  we  were  re-enforced  by  Buell's  and 
Pope's  armies,  and,  before  the  end  of  April  our  army  ex- 
tended from  Snake  River  to  the  Tennessee  at  Hamburgh,  and 
numbered  about  one  hundred  thousand  men.  Supplies 
reached  us  by  the  Tennessee  river.  By  the  last  of  April  the 
troops  were  ready  to  march  and  the  general  movement  toward 
Corinth  began.  There  was  little  or  no  fighting,  as  the  enemy 
seemed  so  demoralized  that  he  evacuated  that  town  under 
cover  of  night,  and  when  General  Sherman  was  ordered  to 
feel  the  enemy  after  having  reported  strange  sounds  of  mov- 
ing railway  trains,  it  was  found  that  the  troops  had  fled 
towards  the  south.  At  this  point  it  was  apparent  to  the  entire 
army  that  the  question  of  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi  could 
be  solved  in  a  very  short  time.  The  boys  in  the  ranks  were 
calculating  the  number  of  days  it  would  take  to  finish  up  the 
whole  business,  and  among  the  officers  there  was  strong  re- 
monstrance when  it  seemed  as  if  the  advantage  gained  must 
be  lost  through  inaction.  But  "public  opinion"  at  Washing- 
ton, and  the  wishes  of  those  in  command  seated  in  easy-chairs 
must  be  consulted.  General  Halleck  was  overruled  in  his 
plans.  General  Grant  was  practically  in  disgrace,  and  asked 
for  and  obtained  a  leave  of  absence  when  smarting  under  the 
injustice.  General  Sherman  sought  out  Grant  and  asked 
him  the  reason  for  his  going  away,  and  was  told  the  plain 
truth.  It  was  evident  that  he  was  not  wanted,  and  he  was 
going  to  St.  Louis.  Sherman  promptly  quoted  his  own  case 
to  him.  Just  before  the  battle  of  Shiloh  he  had  been  in  the 
same  condition  with  the  added  weight  of  charges  of  insanity. 
General  Grant  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  his  friend  and  after 
a  short  time  General  Grant  was  given  a  small  command  and 
the  duty  of  taking  command  of  Memphis  and  of  the  District  of 
West  Tennessee. 


142  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

This  was  about  the  time  when  General  Sherman  became 
directly  under  the  command  of  Grant.  Halleck  was  ordered 
to  Washington  to  succeed  General  McClellan  as  Commander- 
in-Chief.  For  the  remaining  months  of  the  year  there  was 
practically  no  energetic  movements,  though  the  army  was  at 
that  time  in  the  best  possible  condition.  But  there  was  much 
for  soldiers  to  do.  Nothing  had  yet  been  settled  as  to  the 
status  of  the  negroes.  They  were  still  considered  slaves  and 
to  owe  service  to  their  masters,  if  the  latter  were  loyal.  Then 
there  was  another  question,  as  to  the  cotton  stored  in  the 
South.  General  Grant  had  assumed  command  in  place  of 
Halleck,  and  Sherman  had  been  ordered  to  Memphis  to  com- 
mand the  district  of  West  Tennessee  vacated  by  General 
Grant.  The  battle  of  Corinth  resulted  in  the  complete  rout 
of  the  enemy,  but  Rosencrans  neglected  to  follow  up  his  ad- 
vantage till  too  late  and  another  opportunity  was  lost  to  the 
Union  cause.  But  the  effect  of  the  battle  was  felt  through- 
out the  South,  and  when  General  Sherman  arrived  at  Mem- 
phis in  the  latter  part  of  July  it  was  apparent  that  the  people 
realized  that  the  Confederacy  was  doomed.  Their  feelings 
justified  the  hopes  felt  by  the  Union  soldiers,  but  both  were 
destined  to  long-deferred  hopes.  Possibly  in  some  manner 
history  may  clear  up  the  causes  which  led  to  the  repeated 
failure  of  the  real  authority  to  allow  too  prompt  an  ending  to  a 
war  fought  so  heroically  by  the  soldiers  in  the  ranks,  and  so 
skillfully  by  their  commanders. 

At  Memphis  business  was  practically  at  a  stand-still,  the 
river  being  in  our  possession.  But  there  was  activity  of  an- 
other sort.  To  the  soldiers  it  was  soon  a  matter  of  surprise 
that  the  trade  in  cotton  was  so  brisk,  and  it  seemed  as  if, 
from  the  number  of  speculators  coming  down  from  the  North, 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  whatever  recruits 
the  Government  might  need.  But  the  military  were  relieved 


CAMP  LI  Ft   AT  CORINTH. 


SCENES  FROM  ARMY  LIFE. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  143 

of  this,  as  it  was  given  to  the  agents  of  the  treasury  depart- 
ment under  Mr.  Chase.  The  following  correspondence  of 
General  Sherman  will  throw  some  light  on  this  matter,  and 
possibly  form  some  part  of  that  history  which  must  in  time 
do  justice  to  all. 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  DIVISION,  )  ' 
MEMPHIS,  TENNESSEE,  August  n,    1862.  ) 

" Hon.  S.  P.  CHASE,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

"SiR:  Your  letter  of  August  2d,  just  received,  invites  my 
discussion  of  the  cotton  question. 

"I  write  plainly  and  slowly,  because  I  know  you  have  no 
time  to  listen  to  trifles.  This  is  no  trifle;  when  one  nation 
is  at  war  with  another  all  the  people  of  the  one  are  enemies 
of  the  other — then  the  rules  are  plain  and  easy  of  understand- 
ing. Most  unfortunately,  the  war  in  which  we  are  now  en- 
gaged has  been  complicated  with  the  belief  on  the  one  hand 
that  all  on  the  other  are  not  enemies.  It  would  have  been 
better  if,  at  the  outset,  this  mistake  had  not  been  made; 
and  it  is  wrong  longer  to  be  misled  by  it.  The  Government  of 
the  United  States  may  now  safely  proceed  on  the  proper  rule 
that  all  in  the  South  are  enemies  of  all  in  the  North;  and 
not  only  are  they  unfriendly,  but  all  who  can  procure  arms 
now  bear  them  as  organized  regiments,  or  as  guerrillas. 
There  is  not  a  garrison  in  Tennessee  where  a  man  can  go 
beyond  the  sight  of  the  flag-staff  without  being  shot  or  cap- 
tured. It  so  happened  that  these  people  had  cotton,  and, 
whenever  they  apprehended  our  large  armies  would  move, 
they  destroyed  the  cotton  in  the  belief  that,  of  course,  we 
would  seize  it,  and  convert  it  to  our  use.  They  did  not  and 
could  not  dream  that  we  would  pay  money  for  it.  It  had 
been  condemned  to  destruction  by  their  own  acknowledged 
government,  and  was  therefore  lost  to  their  people;  and 


144  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

could  have  been,  without  injustice,  taken  by  us,  and  sent 
away,  either  as  absolute  prize  of  war,  or  for  future  compensa- 
tion. But  the  commercial  enterprise  of  the  Jews  soon  dis- 
covered that  ten  cents  would  buy  a  pound  of  cotton  behind 
our  army;  that  four  cents  would  take  it  to  Boston,  where 
they  could  receive  thirty  cents  in  gold.  The  bait  was  too 
tempting,  and  it  spread  like  fire,  when  here  they  discovered 
that  salt,  bacon,  powder,  fire-arms,  percussion-caps,  etc., 
etc.,  were  worth  as  much  as  gold;  and,  strange  to  say,  this 
traffic  was  not  only  permitted  but  encouraged.  Before  we 
in  the  interior  could  know  it,  hundreds,  yea  thousands  of 
barrels  of  salt  and  millions  of  dollars  had  been  disbursed; 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  Bragg' s  army  at  Tupelo,  and  Van 
Dorn's  at  Vicksburg,  received  enough  salt  to  make  bacon, 
without  which  they  could  not  have  moved  their  armies  in 
mass;  and  that  from  ten  to  twenty  thousand  fresh  arms,  and 
a  due  supply  of  cartridges,  have  also  been  got,  I  am  equally 
satisfied.  As  soon  as  I  got  to  Memphis,  having  seen  the 
effect  in  the  interior,  I  ordered  (only  as  to  my  own  com- 
mand) that  gold,  silver,  and  Treasury  notes,  were  contra- 
band of  war,  and  should  not  go  into  the  interior,  where  all 
were  hostile.  It  is  idle  to  talk  about  the  Union  men  here. 
Many  want  peace,  and  fear  war  and  its  results;  but  all  pre- 
fer a  Southern,  independent,  government,  and  are  fighting  or 
working  for  it.  Every  gold  dollar  that  was  spent  for  cot- 
ton, was  sent  to  the  seaboard,  to  be  exchanged  for  bank- 
notes and  Confederate  scrip,  which  will  buy  goods  here,  and 
are  taken  in  ordinary  transactions.  I  therefore  required 
cotton  to  be  paid  for  in  such  notes,  by  an  obligation  to  pay 
at  the  end  of  the  war,  or  by  a  deposit  of  the  price  in  the 
hands  of  a  trustee,  viz.,  the  United  States  Quartermaster. 
Under  these  rules  cotton  is  being  obtained  about  as  fast  as 
by  any  other  process,  and  yet  the  enemy  receives  no  'aid  or 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  145 

comfort.'  Under  the  'gold, '  rule,  .the  country  people  who 
had  concealed  their  cotton  from  the  burners,  and  who  openly 
scorned  our  greenbacks,  were  willing  enough  to  take  Ten- 
nessee money,  which  will  buy  their  groceries;  but  now  that 
the  trade  is  to  be  encouraged,  and  gold  paid  out,  I  admit  that 
cotton  will  be  sent  in  by  our  open  enemies,  who  can  make  bet- 
ter use  of  gold  than  they  can  of  their  hidden  bales  of  cotton. 

"I  may  not  appreciate  the  foreign  aspect  of  the  question, 
but  my  views  on  this  may  be  ventured.  If  England  ever 
threatens  war,  because  we  don't  furnish  her  cotton,  tell  her 
plainly  if  she  can't  employ  and  feed  her  own  people,  to  send 
them  here,  where  they  can  not  only  earn  an  honest  living, 
but  soon  secure  independence  by  moderate  labor.  We  are 
not  bound  to  furnish  her  cotton.  She  has  more  reason  to 
fight  the  South  for  burning  that  cotton,  than  us  for  not  ship- 
ping it.  To  aid  the  South  on  this  ground  would  be  hypocrisy 
which  the  world  would  soon  detect  at  once.  Let  her  make 
her  ultimatum,  and  there  are  enough  generous  minds  in  Eu- 
rope that  will  counteract  her  in  the  balance.  Of  course  her 
motive  is  to  cripple  a  power  that  rivals  her  in  commerce 
and  manufactures,  that  threatens  even  to  usurp  her  history. 
In  twenty  more  years  of  prosperity,  it  will  require  a  close 
calculation  to  determine  whether  England,  her  laws  and 
history,  claim  for  a  home  the  Continent  of  America  or  the 
Isle  of  Britain.  Therefore,  finding  us  in  a  death-struggle 
for  existence,  she  seems  to  seek  a  quarrel  to  destroy  both 
parts  in  detail. 

"Southern  people  know  this  full  well,  and  will  only  accept 
the  alliance  of  England  in  order  to  get  arms  and  manufact- 
ures in  exchange  for  their  cotton.  The  Southern  Confeder- 
acy will  accept  no  other  mediation,  because  she  knows  full 
well  that  in  Old  England  her  slaves  and  slavery  will  receive 

no  more  encouragement  that  in  New  England. 

10 


146  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"France  certainly  does  not  need  our  cotton  enough  to  dis- 
turb her  equilibrium,  and  her  mediation  would  be  entitled 
to  a  more  respectful  consideration  than  on  the  part  of  her 
present  ally.  But  I  feel  assured  the  French  will  not  encour- 
age rebellion  and  secession  anywhere  as  a  political  doctrine. 
Certainly  all  the  German  states  must  be  our  ardent  friends; 
and,  in  case  of  European  intervention,  they  could  not  be 
kept  down. 

"With  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General" 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  DIVISION,  ARMY  OF  THE  j 
TENNESSEE,  MEMPHIS,  July  23,  1862.  J 

"Dr.  E.  S.  PLUMMER  and  others,  Physicians  in  Memphis, 
Signers  to  a  Petition. 

"GENTLEMEN:  I  have  this  moment  received  your  com- 
munication, and  assure  you  that  it  grieves  my  heart  thus  to 
be  the  instrument  of  adding  to  the  seeming  cruelty  and  hard- 
ship of  this  unnatural  war. 

"On  my  arrival  here,  I  found  my  predecessor  (General 
Hovey)  had  issued  an  order  permitting  the  departure  south 
of  all  persons  subject  to  the  conscript  law  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy.  Many  applications  have  been  made  to  me 
to  modify  this  order,  but  I  regarded  it  as  a  condition  pre- 
cedent by  which  I  was  bound  in  honor,  and  therefore  I  have 
made  no  changes  or  modifications;  nor  shall  I  determine 
what  action  I  shall  adopt  in  relation  to  persons  unfriendly 
to  our  cause  who  remain  after  the  time  limited  by  General 
Hovey's  order  has  expired.  It  is  now  sunset,  and  all  who 
have  not  availed  themselves  of  General  Hovey's  authority, 
and  wrho  remain  in  Memphis,  are  supposed  to  be  loyal  and 
true  men. 

"I  will  only  say  that  I  cannot  allow    the    personal  conven- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  147 

ience  of  even  a  large  class  of  ladies  to  influence  me  in  my 
determination  to  make  Memphis  a  safe  place  of  operations 
for  an  army,  and  all  people  who  are  unfriendly  should  forth- 
with prepare  to  depart  in  such  direction  as  I  may  hereafter 
indicate. 

"Surgeons  are  not  liable  to  be  made  prisoners  of  war,  but 
they  should  not  reside  within  the  lines  of  an  army  which 
they  regard  as  hostile.  The  situation  would  be  too  delicate. 

"I  am  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-Generla." 

"HEADQUARTERS  MEMPHIS,  July  24,  1862. 
"SAMUEL  SAWYER,   Esq.,  Editor  Union  Appeal,  Memphis. 

"DEAR  SIR:  It  is  well  I  should  come  to  an  understanding 
at  once  with  the  press  as  well  as  the  people  of  Memphis, 
which  I  am  ordered  to  command — which  means,  to  control 
for  the  interest,  welfare,  and  glory  of  the  whole  Government 
of  the  United  States." 

"Personalities  in  a  newspaper  are  wrong  and  criminal. 
Thus,  though  you  meant  to  be  complimentary  in  your 
sketch  of  my  career,  )'ou  make  more  than  a  dozen  mistakes 
of  fact,  which  I  need  not  correct,  as  I  don't  desire  my  biog- 
raphy to  be  written  till  I  am  dead.  It  is  enough  for  the 
world  to  know  that  I  live  and  am  a  soldier,  bound  to  obey 
the  orders  of  my  superiors,  the  laws  of  my  country,  and  to 
venerate  its  Constitution;  and  that,  when  discretion  is  given 
me,  I  shall  exercise  it  wisely  and  account  to  my  superiors. 

"I  regard  your  article  headed  'City  Council — General  Sher- 
man and  Colonel  Slack, '  as  highly  indiscreet.  Of  course,  no 
person  who  can  jeopardize  the  safety  of  Memphis  can  remain 
here,  much  less  exercise  public  authority;  but  I  must  take 
time,  and  be  satisfied  that  injustice  be  not  done. 

"If  the  parties  named  be  the   men  you  describe,  the    fact 


148  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

should  not  be  published,  to  put  them  on  their  guard  and  thus 
to  encourage  their  escape.  The  evidence  should  be  carefully 
collected,  authenticated,  and  then  placed  in  my  hands.  But 
your  statement  of  facts  is  entirely  qualified,  in  my  mind,  and 
loses  its  force  by  your  negligence  of  the  very  simple  facts 
within  your  reach  as  to  myself;  I  had  been  in  the  army  six 
years  in  1846;  am  not  related  by  blood  to  any  member  of 
Lucas,  Turner  &  Co. ;  was  associated  with  them  in  business 
six  years  (instead  of  two);  am  not  colonel  of  the  Fifteenth 
Infantry,  but  of  the  Thirteenth.  Your  correction,  this  morn- 
ing, of  the  ,  acknowledged  error  as  to  General  Denver  and 
others,  is  still  erroneous.  General  Morgan  L.  Smith  did  not. 
belong  to  my  command  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh  at  all,  but  he 
was  transferred  to  my  division  just  before  reaching  Corinth. 
I  mention  these  facts  in  kindness,  to  show  you  how  wrong 
it  is  to  speak  of  persons." 

"I  will  attend  to  the  judge,  mayor,  Boards  of  Alderman, 
and  policemen,  all  in  good  time. 

"Use  your  influence  to  re-establish  system,  order,  govern- 
ment. You  may  -rest  easy  that  no  military  commander  is 
going  to  neglect  internal  safety,  or  to  guard  against  exter- 
nal danger;  but  to  do  right  requires  time,  and  more  patience 
than  I  usually  possess.  If  I  find  the  press  of  Memphis  act- 
uated by  high  priniciple  and  a  sole  devotion  to  their  country,  I 
will  be  their  best  friend;  but  if  I  find  them  personal,  abusive, 
dealing  in  innuendoes  and  hints  at  a  blind  venture,  and  look- 
ing to  their  own  selfish  aggrandizement  and  fame,  then  they 
had  better  look  out;  for  I  regard  such  persons  as  greater  ene- 
mies to  their  country  and  to  mankind  than  the  men  who, 
from  a  mistaken  sense  of  State  pride,  have  taken  up  mus- 
kets, and  fight  us  about  as  hard  as  we  care  about. 

"In  haste,  but  in  kindness,  yours,  etc., 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  149 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  DIVISION,  ) 
MEMPHIS,  TENNESSEE,  July  27,  1862.  ) 

"JOHN  PARK,  Mayor  of  Memphis,  present. 

"SiR:  Yours  of  July  24th  is  before  me,  and  has  received, 
as  all  similar  papers  ever  will,  my  careful  and  most  respectful 
consideration.  I  have  the  most  unbounded  respect  for  the 
civil  law,  courts,  and  authorities,  and  shall  do  all  in  my  power 
to  restore  them  to  their  proper  use,  viz. ,  the  protection  of 
life,  liberty  and  property. 

"Unfortunately,  at  this  time,  civil  war  prevails  in  the 
d,  and  necessarily  the  military,  for  the  time  being,  must 
be  superior  to  the  civil  authority,  but  it  does  not  therefore 
destroy  it.  Civil  courts  and  executive  officers  should  still 
exist  and  perform  duties,  without  which  civil  or  municipal 
bodies  would  soon  pass  into  disrespect — an  end  to  be  avoided. 
I  am  glad  to  find  in  Memphis  a  mayor  and  municipal  authori- 
ties not  only  in  existence,  but  in  the  co-exercise  of  important 
functions,  and  I  shall  endeavor  to  restore  one  or  more  civil 
tribunals  for  the  arbitration  of  contracts  and  punishment  of 
crimes,  which  the  military  have  neither  time  nor  inclination 
to  interfere  with.  Among  these,  first  in  importance  is  the 
maintenance  of  order,  peace,  and  quiet,  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Memphis.  To  insure  this,  I  will  keep  a  strong  pro- 
vost guard  in  the  city,  but  will  limit  their  duty  to  guarding 
public  property  held  or  claimed  by  the  United  States,  and  for 
the  arrest  and  confinement  of  State  prisoners  and  soldiers 
who  are  disorderly  or  improperly  away  from  their  regiments. 
This  guard  ought  not  to  arrest  citizens  for  disorder  or  minor 
crimes.  This  should  be  done  by  the  city  police.  I  understand 
that  the  city  police  is  too  weak  in  numbers  to  accomplish 
this  perfectly,  and  I  therefore  recommend  that  the  City 
Council  at  once  take  steps  to  increase  this  force  to  a  number 
which,  in  their  judgment,  day  and  night  can  enforce  your 


150  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ordinances  as  to  peace,  quiet,  and  order;  so  that  any  change 
in  our  military  dispositions  will  not  have  a  tendency  to  leave 
your  people  unguarded.  I  am  willing  to  instruct  the  provost- 
guard  to  assist  the  police  force  when  any  combination  is  made 
too  strong  for  them  to  overcome;  but  the  city  police  should 
be  strong  enough  for  any  probable  contingency.  The  cost 
of  maintaining  this  police  force  must  necessarily  fall  upon  all 
citizens  equitably. 

"I  am  not  willing,  nor  do  I  think  it  good  policy,  for  the 
city  authorities  to  collect  the  taxes  belonging  to  the  State 
and  County,  as  you  recommend;  for  these  would  have  to  be 
refunded.  Better  meet  the  expenses  at  once  by  a  new  tax 
on  all  interested.  Therefore,  if  you,  on  consultation  with 
the  proper  municipal  body,  will  frame  a  good  bill  for  the  in- 
crease of  your  police  force,  and  for  raising  the  necessary 
means  for  their  support  and  maintenance,  I  will  approve  it 
and  aid  you  in  the  collection  of  the  tax.  Of  course  I  cannot 
suggest  how  this  tax  should  be  laid,  but  I  think  that  it  should 
be  made  uniform  on  all  interests,  real  estate,  and  personal 
property,  including  money  and  merchandise. 

"All  who  are  protected  should  share  the  expenses  in  propor- 
tion to  the  interests  involved. 

"I  am  with  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  Commanding" 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  DIVISION,  ) 
MEMPHIS,  TENNESSEE,  August  26,  1862.  ) 

"Major-General  GRANT,  Corinth,  Mississippi. 

"SiR:  In  pursuance  of  your  request  that  I  should  keep  you 
advised  of  matters  of  interest  here,  in  addition  to  the  purely 
official  matters,  I  now  write. 

"I  dispatched  promptly  the  thirteen  companies  of  cavalry, 
nine  of  Fourth  Illinois,  and  four  of  Eleventh  Illinois,  to  their 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN, 

respective  destinations,  punctually  on  the  23d  instant,  al- 
though the  order  was  only  received  on  the  22d.  I  received 
at  the  same  time,  from  Colonel  Dickey,  the  notice  that  the 
bridge  over  Hatchie  was  burned,  and  therefore  I  prescribed 
their  order  of  march  via  Bolivar.  They  started  at  12  M.  of 
the  23d,  and  I  have  no  news  of  them  since.  None  of  the 
cavalry  ordered  to  me  is  yet  heard  from. 

"The  guerrillas  have  destroyed  several  bridges  over  Wolf 
Creek;  one  at  Raleigh,  on  the  road  by  which  I  had  prescribed 
trade  and  travel  to  and  from  the  city.  I  have  a  strong  guard 
at  the  lower  bridge  over  Wolf  River,  by  which  we  can  reach 
the  country  to  the  north  of  that  stream;  but,  as  the  Confed- 
erates have  burned  their  own  bridges,  I  will  hold  them  to  my 
order,  and  allow  no  trade  over  any  other  road  than  the  one 
prescribed,  using  the  lower  or  Randolph  road  for  our  own 
convenience.  I  am  still  satisfied  there  is  no  large  force  of 
Rebels  anywhere  in  the  neighborhood.  All  the  navy  gunboats 
are  below  except  the  St.  Louis,  which  lies  off  the  city. 
When  Commodore  Davis  passes  down  from  Cairo,  I  will  try 
to  see  him,  and  get  him  to  exchange  the  St.  Louis  for  a  fleeter 
boat  not  iron-clad — one  that  can  move  up  and  down  the  river, 
to  break  up  ferry-boats  and  canoes,  and  to  prevent  all 
passing  across  the  river.  Of  course,  in  spite  of  all  our  efforts, 
smuggling  is  carried  on.  We  occasionally  make  hauls  of  cloth- 
ing, gold-lace,  buttons,  etc.,  but  I  am  satisfied  that  salt  and 
arms  are  got  to  the  interior  somehow.  I  have  addressed  the 
Board  of  Trade  a  letter  on  this  point,  which  will  enable  us  to 
control  it  better. 

"You  may  have  been  troubled  at  hearing  reports  of  drunken- 
ness here.  There  was  some  after  pay-day,  but  generally  all 
is  as  quiet  and  orderly  as  possible.  I  traverse  the  city  every 
day  and  night,  and  assert  that  Memphis  is  and  has  been  as 
orderly  a  city  as  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  or  New  York. 


152  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

"Before  the  city  authorities  undertook  to  license  saloons, 
there  was  as  much  whisky  here  as  now,  and  it  would  take  all 
my  command  as  custom-house  inspectors,  to  break  open  all 
the  parcels  and  packages  containing  liquor.  I  can  destroy  all 
groggeries  and  shops  where  soldiers  get  liquor  just  as  we 
would  in  St.  Louis. 

"The  newspapers  are  accusing  me  of  cruelty  to  the  sick — as 
base  a  charge  as  was  ever  made.  I  would  not  let  the  Sani- 
tary Committee  carry  off  a  boat-load  of  sick,  because  I  have 
no  right  to.  We  have  good  hospitals  here,  and  plenty  of 
them.  Our  regimental  hospitals  are  in  the  camps  of  the  men, 
and  the  sick  do  much  better  there  than  in  the  general  hospitals; 
so  say  my  division  surgeon  and  regimental  surgeons.  The  civil- 
ian doctors,  would,  if  permitted,  take  away  our  entire  com- 
mand. General  Curtis  sends  his  sick  up  here,  but  usually 
no  nurses;  and  it  is  not  right  that  nurses  should  be  taken 
from  my  command  for  his  sick.  I  think  that,  when  we  are 
endeavoring  to  raise  soldiers  and  to  instruct  them,  it  is  bad 
policy  to  keep  them  at  hospitals  as  attendants  and  nurses. 

"I  send  you  Dr.  Derby's  acknowledgment  that  he  gave  the 
leave  of  absence  of  which  he  was  charged.  I  have  placed  him 
in  arrest,  in  obedience  to  General  Halleck's  orders,  but  he 
remains  in  charge  of  the  Overton  Hospital,  which  is  not  full 
of  patients. 

"The  State  Hospital  also  is  not  full,  and  I  cannot  imagine 
what  Dr.  Derby  wants  with  the  Female  Academy  on  Vance 
Street.  I  will  see  him  again,  and  now,  that  he  is  the  chief 
at  Overton  Hospital,  I  think  he  will  not  want  the  academy. 
Still,  if  he  does,  under  your  orders,  I  will  cause  it  to  be  vacat- 
ed by  the  children  and  Sisters  of  Mercy.  They  have  just 
advertised  for  more  scholars,  and  will  be  sadly  disappointed. 
If,  however,  this  building  or  any  other  be  needed  for  a  hos- 
pital, it  must  be  taken;  but  really,  in  my  heart,  I  do  not  see 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  153 

what  possible  chance  there  is,  under  present  circumstances, 
of  filling  with  patients  the  two  large  hospitals  now  in  use, 
besides  the  one  asked  for.  I  may,  however,  be  mistaken  in 
the  particular  building  asked  for  by  Dr.  Derby,  and  will  go 
myself  to  see. 

"The  fort  is  progressing  well,  Captain  Jenney  having  ar- 
rived. Sixteen  heavy  guns  are  received,  with  a  large  amount 
of  shot  and  shell,  but  the  platforms  are  not  yet  ready;  still, 
if  occasion  should  arise  for  dispatch,  I  can  put  a  larger  force 
to  work.  Captain  Prime,  when  here,  advised  that  the  work 
should  proceed  regularly  under  the  proper  engineer  officers 
and  laborers.  I  am,  etc, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  Commanding. 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  DIVISION,  ) 
MEMPHIS,  TENNESSEE,  September  21,  1862.  ) 

"Editor  'BULLETIN.' 

"SiR:  Your  comments  on  the  recent  orders  of  Generals 
Halleck  and  McClellan  afford  the  occasion  appropriate  for 
me  to  make  public  the  fact  that  there  is  a  law  of  Congress, 
as  old  as  our  Government  itself,  but  re-enacted  on  the  loth 
of  April,  1806,  and  in  force  ever  since.  The  law  reads: 
'All  officers  and  soldiers  are  to  behave  themselves  orderly 
in  quarters  and  on  the  march;  and  whoever  shall  commit  any 
waste  or  spoil,  either  in  walks  of  trees,  parks,  warrens,  fish- 
ponds, houses  and  gardens,  cornfields,  inclosures  or  meadows, 
or  shall  maliciously  destroy  any  property  whatever  belonging 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  unless  by  order  of  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  armies  of  said  United  States, 
shall  (besides  such  penalties  as  they  are  liable  to  by  law)  be 
punished  according  to  the  nature  and  degree  of  the  offense, 
by  the  judgment  of  a  general  or  regimental  court-martial.' 

"Such  is  the  law  of  Congress;  and  the   orders  of  the  com- 


154  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

mander-in-chief  are,  that  officers  or  soldiers  convicted  of 
straggling  and  pillaging  shall  be  punished  with  death.  These 
orders  have  not  come  to  me  officially,  but  I  have  seen  them 
in  newspapers,  and  am  satisfied  that  they  express  the  deter- 
mination of  the  commander-in-chief.  Straggling  and  pillaging 
have  ever  been  great  military  crimes;  and  every  officer  and 
soldier  in  my  command  knows  what  stress  I  have  laid  upon 
them,  and  that,  so  far  as  in  my  power  lies,  I  will  punish 
them  to  the  full  extent  of  the  law  and  orders. 

"The  law  is  one  thing,  the  execution  of  the  law  another. 
God  himself  has  commanded:  'Thou  shalt  not  kill,'  'thou 
shalt  not  steal,'  'thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  goods,' 
etc.  Will  any  one  say  these  things  are  not  done  now  as 
well  as  before  these  laws  were  announced  at  Sinai?  I  admit 
the  law  to  be  that  'no  officer  or  soldier  of  the  United  States 
shall  commit  waste  or  destruction  of  cornfields,  orchards, 
potato-patches,  or  any  kind  of  pillage  on  the  property  of  friend 
or  foe  near  Memphis, '  and  that  I  stand  prepared  to  execute 
the  law  as  far  as  possible. 

"No  officer  or  soldier  should  enter  the  house  or  premises  of 
any  peaceable  citizen,  no  matter  what  his  politics,  unless  on 
business;  and  no  such  officer  or  soldier  can  force  an  entrance 
unless  he  have  a  written  order  from  a  commanding  officer  or 
provost-marshal,  which  written  authority  must  be  exhibited 
if  demanded.  When  property  such  as  forage,  building  or  other 
materials  are  needed  by  the  United  States,  a  receipt  will  be 
given  by  the  officer  taking  them,  which  receipt  should  be 
presented  to  the  quartermaster,  who  will  substitute  therefor  a 
regular  voucher,  to  be  paid  according  to  the  circumstances 
of  the  case.  If  the  officer  refuse  to  give  such  receipt,  the 
citizen  may  fairly  infer  that  the  property  is  wrongfully  taken, 
and  he  should,  for  his  own  protection,  ascertain  the  name, 
rank,  and  regiment  of  the  officer  and  report  him  in  writing. 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN.  155 

If  any  soldier  commits  waste  or  destruction,  the  person  whose 
property  is  thus  wasted  must  find  out  the  name,  company, 
and  regiment  of  the  actual  transgressor.  In  order  to  punish 
there  must  be  a  trial,  and  there  must  be  testimony.  It  is  not 
sufficient  that  a  general  accusation  be  made,  that  soldiers  are 
doing  this  or  that.  I  cannot  punish  my  whole  command,  or 
a  whole  battalion  because  one  or  two  bad  soldiers  do  wrong. 
The  punishment  must  reach  the  perpetrators,  and  no  one  can 
identify  them  as  well  as  the  party  who  is  interested.  The 
State  of  Tennessee  does  not  hold  itself  responsible  for  acts 
of  larceny  committed  by  her  citizens,  nor  does  the  United 
States  or  any  other  nation.  These  are  individual  acts  of 
wrong,  and  punishment  can  only  be  inflicted  on  the  wrong- 
doer. I  know  the  difficulty  of  identifying  particular  soldiers, 
but  difficulties  do  not  alter  the  importance  of  principles  of 
justice.  They  should  stimulate  the  parties  to  increase  their 
efforts  to  find  out  the  actual  perpetrators  of  the  crime. 

"Colonels  of  regiments  and  commanders  of  corps  are  lia- 
ble to  severe  punishment  for  permitting  their  men  to  leave 
their  camps  to  commit  waste  or  destruction;  but  I  know  full 
well  that  many  of  the  acts  attributed  to  soldiers  are  committed 
by  citizens  and  negroes,  and  are  charged  to  soldiers  because 
of  a  desire  to  find  fault  with  them;  but  this  only  reacts  upon 
'the  community  and  increases  the  mischief.  While  every  offi- 
cer would  willingly  follow  up  an  accusation  against  any  one 
or  more  of  his  men  whose  names  or  description  were  given  im- 
mediately after  the  discovery  of  the  act,  he  would  naturally 
resent  any  general  charge  against  his  good  men,  for  the  crimi- 
nal conduct  of  a  few  bad  ones. 

"I  have  examined  into  many  of  the  cases  of  complaint 
made  in  this  general  way,  and  have  felt  mortified  that  our 
soldiers  should  do  acts  which  are  nothing  more  or  less  than 
stealing,  but  I  was  powerless  without  some  clew  whereby  to 


156  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

reach  the  rightful  party.  I  know  that  the  great  mass  of  our 
soldiers  would  scorn  to  steal  or  commit  crime,  and  I  will 
not  therefore  entertain  vague  and  general  complaints,  but 
stand  prepared  always  to  follow  up  any  reasonable  com- 
plaint when  the  charge  is  definite  and  the  names  of  witnesses 
furnished. 

"I  know,  moreover,  in  some  instances  when  our  soldiers 
are  complained  of,  that  they  have  been  insulted  by  sneering 
remarks  about 'Yankees, '  'Northern  barbarians,'  'Lincoln's 
hirelings, '  etc.  People  who  use  such  language  must  seek 
redress  through  some  one  else,  for  I  will  not  tolerate  insults 
to  our  Country  or  Cause.  When  people  forget  their  obliga- 
tions to  a  Government  that  made  them  respected  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  and  speak  contemptuously  of  the  flag 
which  is  the  silent  emblem  of  that  country,  I  will  not  go  out 
of  my  way  to  protect  them  or  their  property.  I  will  punish 
the  soldiers  for  trespass  or  waste  if  adjudged  by  a  court- 
martial,  because  they  disobey  orders;  but  soldiers  are  men 
and  citizens  as  well  as  soldiers,  and  should  promptly  resent 
any  insult  to  their  country,  come  from  what  quarter  it  may. 
I  mention  this  phase  because  it  is  too  common.  Insult  to 
a  soldier  does  not  justify  pillage,  but  it  takes  from  the 
officer  the  disposition  he  would  otherwise  feel,  to  follow  up 
the  inquiry  and  punish  the  wrong-doers. 

"Again,  armies  in  motion  or  stationary  must  commit  some 
waste.  Flankers  must  let  down  fences  and  cross  fields;  and, 
when  an  attack  is  contemplated  or  apprehended,  a  command 
will  naturally  clear  the  ground  of  houses,  fences,  and  trees. 
This  is  waste,  but  is  the  natural  consequence  of  war,  charge- 
able on  those  who  caused  the  war.  So  in  fortifying  a  place, 
dwelling-houses,  must  be  taken,  materials  used,  even  wasted, 
and  great  damage  done,  which  in  the  end  may  prove  useless. 
This,  too,  is  an  expense  not  chargeable  to  us,  but  to  those 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  I  57 

who   made   the  war;    and   generally  war  is  destruction   and 
nothing  else. 

"We  must  bear  this  in  mind,  that  however  peaceful  things 
look,  we  are  really  at  war ;  and  much  that  looks  like  waste 
or  destruction  is  only  the  removal  of  objects  that  obstruct 
our  fire,  or  would  afford  cover  to  an  enemy. 

"This  class  of  waste  must  be  distinguished  from  the  wan- 
ton waste  committed  by  army-stragglers,  which  is  wrong,  and 
;can  be  punished  by  the  death-penalty  if  proper  testimony 
can  be  produced. 

"Yours,  etc., 
"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  Commanding.'" 

These  letters  reveal  characteristics  which  had  much  to  do 
with  the  attachment  felt  by  soldiers  for  a  commander  who 
would  not  allow  red-tapism  to  close  his  eyes  to  actual  facts,  or 
cause  him  to  inflict  punishment  on  soldiers  stung  by  the  insults 
of  men  only  restrained  by  cowardice  from  being  open  enemies. 

The  rest  of  the  season  was  spent  in  making  Memphis  a 
strong  position  for  a  depot  during  the  war.  Fort  Pickering 
was  completed,  and  the  soldiers  prepared  for  further  work 
by  constant  drills  and  practice.  On  the  i  5th  of  November 
General  Sherman  received  a  note  from  General  Grant  ask- 
ing him  to  come  to  Columbus,  Kentucky  for  consultation. 
Genral  Grant  proposed  to  move  against  General  Pemberton 
who  was  then  below  Holly  Springs  behind  the  Tallahatchie 
River.  Grant  proposed  to  utilize  all  the  available  troops, 
leaving  only  a  garrison  at  Memphis.  General  Sherman  left 
Memphis  with  three  small  divisions  and  soon  opened  com- 
munication with  General  Grant  when  near  Holly  Springs. 
Pemberton' s  army  had  fallen  back  at  our  approach.  On 
the  8th  of  December,  General  Sherman  was  again  called  into 
consultation  with  General  Grant,  this  time  at  Oxford,  Missis- 


158  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

sippi.  At  this  interview,  plans  were  made  for  the  capture  of 
Vicksburg,  and  General  Grant  sent  the  following  dispatch  to 
General  Halleck  at  Washington: 

"OXFORD,  December  8,  1862. 
"Major  General  H.  W.  HALLECK,   Washington,  D.  C. 

"General  Sherman  will  command  the  expedition  down  the 
Mississippi.  He  will  have  a  force  of  about  forty  thousand 
men;  will  land  above  Vicksburg  (up  the  Yazoo,  if  practica- 
ble), and  cut  the  Mississippi  Central  road  and  the  road  run- 
ing  east  from  Vicksburg,  where  they  cross  Black  River.  I 
will  co-operate  from  here,  my  movements  depending  on  those 
of  the  enemy.  With  the  large  cavalry  force  now  at  my  com- 
mand, I  will  be  able  to  have  them  show  themselves  at  differ- 
ent points  on  the  Tallahatchie  and  Yalabusha;  and,  when  an 
opportunity  occurs,  make  a  real  attack.  After  cutting  the 
two  roads,  General  Sherman's  movements  to  secure  the  end 
desired  will  necessarily  be  left  to  his  judgment. 

I  will  occupy  this  road  to  Coffeeville. 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Major-General" 

This  dispatch  was  shown  to  General  Sherman  before  being 
sent,  and  he  also  received  the  following  instructions  from 
General  Grant  regarding  the  operations  to  be  made.  This 
and  the  subsequent  letter  embody  all  the  instructions  regard- 
ing the  first  movement  against  Vicksburg. 

"HEADQUARTERS  THIRTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  \ 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE,  OXFORD,  V 

MISSISSIPPI,  December  8,   1862.  ) 

"Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Commanding  Right  Wing 

Army  in  the  Field,  present. 

"GENERAL:  You  will  proceed  with  as  little  delay  as  prac- 
ticable to  Memphis,  Tennessee,  taking  with  you  one  division 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  1 59 

of  your  present  command.  On  your  arrival  at  Memphis  you 
will  assume  command  of  all  the  troops  there,  and  that  por- 
tion of  General  Curtis'  forces  at  present  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  organize  them  into  brigades  and  divisions  in 
your  own  way. 

"As  soon  as  possible  move  with  them  down  the  river  to 
the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  and,  with  the  co-operation  of  the 
gunboat  fleet  under  command  of  Flag-Officer  Porter,  proceed 
to  the  reduction  of  that  place  in  such  manner  as  circum- 
stances and  your  own  judgment  may  dictate. 

"The  amount  of  rations,  forage,  land  transportation,  etc., 
necessary  to  take,  will  be  left  entirely  to  yourself. 

"The  quartermaster  in  St.  Louis  will  be  instructed  to  send 
you  transportation  for  thirty  thousand  men.  Should  you  still 
find  yourself  deficient,  your  quartermaster  will  be  authorized 
to  make  up  the  deficiency  from  such  transports  as  may  come 
into  the  port  of  Memphis. 

"On  arriving  in  Memphis  put  yourself  in  communication 
with  Admiral  Porter,  and  arrange  with  him  for  his  co-opera- 
tion. 

"Inform  me  at  the  earliest  practicable  day  of  the  time  when 
you  will  embark,  and  such  plans  as  may  then  be  matured. 
I  will  hold  the  forces  here  in  readiness  to  co-operate  with 
you  in  such  manner  as  the  movements  of  the  enemy  may 
make  necessary. 

"Leave  the  District  of  Memphis  in  the  command  of  an  effi- 
cient officer  and  with  a  garrison  of  four  regiments  of  infantry, 
the  siege-guns,  and  whatever  cavalry  force  may  be  there. 

"One  regiment  of  infantry  and  at  least  a  section  of  artillery 
will  also  be  left  at   Friar's  Point   or   Delta,  to    protect    the 
stores  of  the  cavalry  post  that  will  be  left  there. 
"Yours  truly, 

"U.  S.   GRANT,  Major-General.^ 


I6O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 


"HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE,  j 
OXFORD,  MISSISSIPPI,  December  14,  1862.     f 

"Major-General    SHERMAN,    Commanding,    etc.,    Memphis, 

Tenn. 

"I  have  not  had  one  word  from  Grierson  since  he  left, 
and  am  getting  uneasy  about  him.  I  hope  General  Gorman 
will  give  you  no  difficulty  about  retaining  the  troops  on 
this  side  the  river,  and  Steele  to  command  them.  The 
twenty-one  thousand  men  you  have,  with  the  twelve  thou- 
sand from  Helena,  will  make  a  good  force.  The  enemy  are 
as  yet  on  the  Yalabusha.  I  am  pushing  down  on  them 
slowly,  but  so  as  to  keep  up  the  impression  of  a  continuous 
move.  I  feel  particularly  anxious  to  have  the  Helena  cav- 
alry on  this  side  of  the  river;  if  not  now,  at  least  after  you 
start.  If  Gorman  will  send  them,  instruct  them  where  to  go 
and  how  to  communicate  with  me.  My  headquarters  will 
probably  be  in  Coffeeville  one  week  hence.  In  the  meantime 
I  will  order  transportation,  etc.  ...  It  would  be  well 
if  you  could  have  two  or  three  small  boats  suitable  for  navigat- 
ing the  Yazoo.  It  may  become  necessary  for  me  to  look  to 
that  base  for  supplies  before  we  get  through. 

"U.S.   GRANT,  Major-General." 

General  Sherman  proceeded  to  carry  out  the  orders  of  his 
superior,  and  issued  the  following  to  the  officers  and  men 
under  his  charge  dated,  Memphis,  December  18,  1862: 

"I.  The  expedition  now  fitting  out  is  purely  of  a  military 
character,  and  the  interests  involved  are  of  too  important  a 
character  to  be  mixed  up  with  personal  and  private  business. 
No  citizen,  male  or  female,  will  be  allowed  to  accompany  it 
unless  employed  as  part  of  a  crew,  or  as  servants  to  the 
transports.  Female  chambermaids  to  the  boats,  and  nurses 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  l6l 

to  the  sick  alone,  will  be  allowed  unless  the  wives  of  cap- 
tains and  pilots  actually  belonging  to  the  boats.  No  laun- 
dress, officer's  or  soldier's  wife  must  pass  below  Helena. 

"II.  No  person  whatever,  citizen,  officer,  or  sutler,  will, 
on  any  consideration,  buy  or  deal  in  cotton,  or  other  prod- 
uce of  the  country.  Should  any  cotton  be  brought  on  board 
of  any  transport,  going  or  returning,  the  brigade  quartermas- 
ter, of  which  the  boat  forms  a  part,  will  take  possession  of  it, 
and  invoice  it  to  Captain  A.  R.  Eddy,  chief  quartermaster 
at  Memphis. 

"III.  Should  any  cotton  or  other  produce  be  brought 
back  to  Memphis  by  any  chartered  boat,  Captain  Eddy  will 
take  possession  of  the  same,  and  sell  it  for  the  benefit  of  the 
United  States.  If  accompanied  by  its  actual  producer,  the 
planter  or  factor,  the  quartermaster  will  furnish  him  with  a 
receipt  for  the  same,  to  be  settled  for  on  proof  of  his  loyalty 
at  the  close  of  the  war. 

"IV.  Boats  ascending  the  river  may  take  cotton  from  the 
shore  for  bulkheads  to  protect  their  engines  or  crew,  but  on 
arrival  at  Memphis  it  must  be  turned  over  to  the  quarter- 
master, with  a  statement  of  the  time,  place,  and  name  of  its 
owner.  The  trade  in  cotton  must  await  a  more  peaceful 
state  of  affairs. 

"V.  Should  any  citizen  accompany  the  expedition  below 
Helena  in  violation  of  those  orders,  any  colonel  of  a  regi- 
ment, or  captain  of  a  battery,  will  conscript  him  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States  for  the  unexpired  term  of  his 
command.  If  he  show  a  refractory  spirit,  unfitting  him  for 
a  soldier,  the  commanding  officer  present  will  turn  him  over 
to  the  captain  of  the  boat  as  a  deck-hand,  and  compel  him 
to  work  in  that  capacity,  without  wages,  until  the  boat  re- 
turns to  Memphis. 

"VI.     Any  person  whatever,  whether  in  the  service  of  the 


1 62  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

United  States  or  transports,  found  making  reports  for  pub- 
lication which  might  reach  the  enemy,  giving  them  informa- 
tion, aid,  and  comfort,  will  be  arrested  and  treated  as  spies. " 

Sherman  embarked  on  the  2Oth  of  December,  1862,  hav- 
ing been  delayed  two  days  by  the  lack  of  steamboat  trans- 
portation. 

The  three  divisions  of  A.  J.  Smith,  M.  L.  Smith,  and 
Morgan,  reported  an  aggregate  of  thirty  thousand  and  sixty- 
eight  officers  and  men  of  all  arms  for  duty.  At  Helena, 
Sherman's  force  was  increased  by  the  division  of  Brigadier- 
General  Frederick  Steele,  twelve  thousand  three  hundred  and 
ten  strong,  comprising  the  brigades  of  Brigadier-Generals  C. 
E.  Hovey,  John  M.  Thayer,  Wyman,  and  Frank  P.  Blair,  Jr. 
The  place  of  rendezvous  was  at  Friar's  Point,  on  the  left- 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  below  Helena.  The  fleet  reached 
Milliken's  Bend  on  the  twenty-fourth.  Christmas  day,  Briga- 
dier-General Burbridge  landed  with  his  brigade  of  A.  J.  Smith's 
division,  and  broke  up  the  Vicksburg  and  Texaa  railway  at 
the  crossing  of  the  Tensas;  and  Sherman  pushed  on  to  a 
point  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  landed  on  the  west 
bank,  and  sent  Morgan  L.  Smith  with  his  division  to  break 
up  the  same  road  at  a  point  eight  miles  from  Vicksburg.  On 
the  26th,  the  transports,  led  and  convoyed  by  the  gunboat 
fleet,  under  Acting  Rear  Admiral  D.  D.  Porter,  ascended  the 
old  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  about  twelve  miles.  Of  the  trans- 
port fleet,  Morgan's  division  led  the  advance,  followed  in 
order  by  Steele,  Morgan  L.  Smith,  and  A.  J.  Smith.  By 
noon  on  the  2/th,  the  entire  command  had  disembarked  on 
the  south  bank  of  the  river.  The  Yazoo  was  very  low,  and 
its  banks  were  about  thirty  feet  above  the  water.  On  reach- 
ing the  point  of  debarkation,  De  Courcey  Stuart  and  Blair 
were  sent  in  the  direction  of  Vicksburg  about  three  miles, 
and  as  soon  as  the  whole  army  had  disembarked  it  moved 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  163 

out  in  four  columns,  Steele's  above  the  mouth  of  Chick- 
asaw  bayou;  Morgan,  with  Blair's  brigade  of  Steele's  divis- 
ion, below  the  same  bayou;  Morgan  L.  Smith's  on  the  main 
road  from  Johnson's  plantation  to  Vicksburg,  with  orders 
to  bear  to  his  left,  so  as  to  strike  the  bayou  about  a  mile 
south  of  where  Morgan  was  ordered  to  cross  it,  and  A.  J. 
Smith's  division  on  the  main  road. 

All  the  heads  of  columns  met  the  enemy's  pickets,  and 
drove  them  toward  Vicksburg.  During  the  night  of  the 
27th,  the  ground  was  reconnoitered,  and  was  found  to  be  ex- 
tremely difficult.  In  front  was  a  bayou,  passable  only  at  two 
points,  which  were  commanded  by  the  enemy's  sharpshoot- 
ers lining  the  levee  on  its  opposite  bank.  Behind  this  was  an 
irregular  strip  of  beach,  on  which  were  constructed  rifle-pits 
and  batteries,  and  behind  that  a  range  of  hills,  whose  scarred 
sides  were  marked  with  rifle-trenches. 

Steele  followed  an  old  levee  from  the  Yazoo  to  the  foot  of 
the  hills  north  of  Thompson's  Lake,  but  found  to  reach  the 
hard  land  he  would  have  to  cross  a  long  corduroy  causeway, 
with  a  battery  enfilading  it,  others  cross-firing  it.  He  skir- 
mished with  the  enemy  on  the  morning  of  the  28th,  but  on  close 
examination  of  the  swamp  and  causeway  and  rifle-pits  well- 
manned,  he  concluded  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  reach 
the  county  road  without  great  sacrifice  of  life. 

On  reporting  that  he  could  not  cross  from  his  position  to 
the  one  occupied  by  the  center,  Sherman  ordered  him  to 
retrace  his  steps  and  return  in  steamboats  to  the  southwest 
side  of  Chickasaw  bayou,  and  support'  Morgan's  division. 
This  he  did  during  the  night  of  the  28th,  arriving  in  time  to 
upport  him,  and  take  part  in  the  assault  of  the  29th. 

Morgan's  division  was  on  the  best  of  ways  from  the  Yazoo 
to  firm  land.  He  had  attached  to  his  trains  the  pontoons 
with  which  to  make  a  bridge,  in  addition  to  the  ford  or  cross- 


1 64  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ing,  and  by  which  the  enemy's  picket  had  retreated.  The 
pontoon  bridge  was  placed  during  the  night  across  a  bayou 
erroneously  supposed  to  be  the  main  bayou,  and  it  was 
therefore  useless;  but  the  natural  crossing  remained,  and 
Morgan  was  ordered  to  cross  with  his  division,  and  carry 
the  line  of  works  to  the  summit  of  the  hill. 

During  the  morning  of  the  28th  a  heavy  fog  enveloped 
the  section.  General  Morgan  advanced  De  Courcey's  brig- 
ade and  engaged  the  enemy;  heavy  firing  of  artillery  and 
infantry  was  sustained,  and  his  column  moved  on  until  he 
encountered  the  real  bayou,  which  again  checked  his  prog- 
ress, and  was  not  passed  until  the  next  day. 

At  the  point  where  Morgan  L.  Smith's  division  reached 
the  bayou  was  a  narrow  sand  strip  with  abattis  thrown  down 
by  the  enemy  on  our  side,  having  the  same  deep  boggy  bayou 
with  its  levee  parapet  and  system  of  cross-batteries  and  rifle- 
pits  on  the  other. 

"To  pass  it  in  the  front  by  the  flank  would  have  been  utter 
destruction,  for  the  head  of  the  column  would  have  been 
swept  away  as  fast  as  it  presented  itself  above  the  steep 
bank.  While  reconnoitering  it  on  the  morning  of  the  28th, 
during  the  heavy  fog,  General  Morgan  L.  Smith  was  shot  in 
the  hip  by  a  chance  rifle-bullet,  and  disabled,  so  that  he  had 
to  be  removed  to  the  boats,  and  thus  at  a  critical  moment 
was  lost  one  of  the  best  and  most  daring  leaders — a  practical 
soldier  and  enthusiastic  patriot.  Brigadier-General  Davis 
Stuart  who  succeeded  to  his  place  and  to  the  execution  of 
his  orders,  immediately  studied  the  nature  of  the  ground  in 
his  front,  saw  all  its  difficulties,  and  made  the  best  possible 
disposition  to  pass  over  his  division  as  soon  as  he  should  hear 
General  Morgan  engaged  on  his  left. 

"To  his  right  General  A.  J.  Smith  had  placed  General  Bur- 
bridge's  brigade  of  his  division,  with  orders  to  make  rafts  and 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN.  165 

cross  over  a  portion  of  his  men,  to  dispose  his  artillery  so  as 
to  fire  at  the  enemy  across  the  bayou,  and  produce  the 
effect  of  a  diversion. 

"Landrum's  brigade  of  A.  J.  Smith's  division  occupied  a 
high  position  on  the  main  road,  with  pickets  and  supports 
pushed  well  forward  into  the  tangled  abattis  within  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  of  the  enemy's  forts,  and  in  plain  view  of 
the  town  of  Vicksburg. 

"The  boats  still  lay  at  the  place  of  debarkation,  covered  by 
the  gunboats  and  four  regiments  of  infantry,  one  of  each  di- 
vision. Such  was  the  disposition  of  Sherman's  forces  during 
the  night  of  the  2oth. 

"The  enemy's  right  was  a  series  of  batteries  or  forts  seven 
miles  above  us  on  the  Yazoo,  at  the  first  bluff  near  Snyder's 
house,  called  Drumgould's  Bluff;  his  left  the  fortified  town 
of  Vicksburg;  and  his  line  connecting  these  was  near  fourteen 
miles  in  extent  and  was  a  natural  fortification,  strengthened 
by  a  year's  labor  of  thousands  of  negroes,  directed  by 
educated  and  skillful  officers. 

"Sherman's  design  was  by  a  prompt  and  concentrated  move- 
ment to  break  the  center  near  Chickasaw  Creek,  at  the  head 
of  a  bayou  of  the  same  name,  and  once  in  position,  to 
turn  to  the  right,  Vicksburg,  or  left,  Drumgould's.  Accord- 
ing to  information  then  obtained  he  supposed  the  organized 
force  of  the  enemy  to  amount  to  about  fifteen  thousand, 
which  could  be  reinforced  at  the  rate  of  about  four  thousand 
a  day,  provided  General  Grant  did  not  occupy  all  the  atten- 
tion of  Pemberton's  forces  at  Grenada,  or  Rosencrans  those 
of  Bragg  in  Tennessee. 

"Nothing  had  yet  been  heard  from  General  Grant,  who  was 
supposed  to  be  pushing  south;  or  of  General  Banks,  who  was 
supposed  to  be  ascending  the  Mississippi,  but  who  in  reality 
had  but  very  recently  reached  New  Orleans,  and  was  engaged 


1 66  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

in  gathering  his  officers  there  and  at  Baton  Rouge,  and  in 
regulating  the  civil  details  of  his  department.  Time  being 
all-important,  Sherman  then  determined  to  assault  the  hills 
in  front  of  Morgan  on  the  morning  of  the  29th — Morgan's 
division  to  carry  the  position  to  the  summit  of  the  hill,  Steele's 
division  to  support  him  and  hold  the  country  road.  Gener- 
al A.  J.  Smith  was  placed  in  command  of  his  own  first 
division  and  M.  L.  Smith's  second  division,  with  orders 
to  cross  on  the  sand-pit,  undermine  the  steep  bank  of 
the  bayou  on  the  further  side,  or  carry  at  all  events, 
the  levee  parapet  and  first  line  of  rifle-pits,  to  prevent 
a  concentration  on  Morgan.  It  was  nearly  noon  when 
Morgan  was  ready,  by  which  time  Blair's  and  Thayer's  brig- 
ades of  Steele's  division  were  up  with  him,  and  took  part  in 
the  assault,  and  Hovey's  brigade  was  also  near  at  hand. 
All  the  troops  were  massed  as  closely  as  possible,  and  the 
supports  were  well  on  hand. 

"The  assault  was  made,  and  a  lodgment  effected  on  the 
hard  table-land  near  the  county  road,  and  the  heads  of  the 
assaulting  columns  reached  different  points  of  the  enemy's 
works;  but  they  here  met  so  withering  a  fire  from  the  rifle- 
pits,  and  cross-fire  of  grape  and  canister  from  the  batteries, 
that  the  columns  faltered,  and  finally  fell  back  to  the  point 
of  starting,  leaving  many  dead,  wounded,  and  prisoners  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

"General  Morgan  at  first  reported  that  the  troops  of  his 
division  were  not  at  all  discouraged,  though  the  losses  in 
Blair's  and  De  Courcey's  brigades  were  heavy,  and  that  he 
would  renew  the  assault  in  half  an  hour. 

"Sherman  then  urged  General  A.  J.  Smith  to  push  his  attack, 
though  it  had  to  be  made  across  a  narrow  sand-bar,  and 
up  a  narrow  path  in  the  nature  of  a  breach,  as  a  diversion 
in  favor  of  Morgan,  or  a  real  attack,  according  to  its  success. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  l6/ 

During  Morgan's  progress,  he  crossed  over  the  Sixth  Mis- 
souri, covered  by  the  Thirteenth  Regulars  deployed  as  skirm- 
ishers up  to  the  bank  of  the  bayou,  protecting  themselves  as 
well  as  possible  by  fallen  trees,  and  firing  at  any  of  the 
enemy's  sharp-shooters  that  showed  a  mark  above  the  levee. 
All  the  ground  was  completely  swept  beforehand  by  the 
artillery,  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  Major  E.  Tay- 
lor, chief  of  artillery.  The  sixth  Missouri  crossed  rapidly 
by  companies,  and  lay  under  the  bank  of  the  bayou  with 
the  enemy's  sharp-shooters  over  their  heads  within  a  few  feet, 
so  near  that  these  sharp-shooters  held  out  their  muskets  and 
fired  down  vertically  upon  our  men.  The  orders  were  to 
undermine  this  bank  and  make  a  road  up  it;  but  it  was  impossi- 
ble, and  after  the  repulse  of  Morgan's  assault,  Sherman 
ordered  General  A.  J.  Smith  to  retire  this  regiment  under  the 
cover  of  darkness,  which  was  successfully  done,  though  with 
heavy  loss. 

"Whilst  this  was  going  on,  Burbridge  was  skirmishing  across 
the  bayou  in  his  front,  and  Landrum  pushed  his  advance 
through  the  close  abattis  and  entanglement  of  fallen  timber 
close  up  to  Vicksburg.  When  the  night  of  the  29th  closed 
in  we  stood  upon  our  original  ground,  and  had  suffered  a 
repulse.  During  the  night  it  rained  very  hard,  and  our  men 
were  exposed  to  it  in  the  miry,  swampy  ground,  sheltered 
only  by  their  blankets  and  rubber  ponchos,  but  during  the 
following  day  it  cleared  off,  and  the  weather  became  warm. 

"After  a  personal  examination  of  the  -various  positions, 
Sherman  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  could  not  break  the 
enemy's  center  .without  being  too  much  crippled  to  act  with 
any  vigor  afterward.  New  combinations  having  therefore 
become  necessary,  he  proposed  to  Admiral  Porter  that  the 
navy  should  cover  a  landing,  at  some  point  close  up  to  the 
Drumgould's  Bluff  batteries,  while  he  would  hold  the  present 


1 68  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ground,  and  send  ten  thousand  choice  troops  to  attack  the 
enemy's  right,  and  carry  the  batteries  at  that  point,  which, 
if  successful,  would  give  us  the  substantial  possession  of  the 
Yazoo  River,  and  place  Sherman  in  communication  with 
General  Grant.  Admiral  Porter  lent  his  hearty  concurrence 
to  this  plan,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  expeditionary  force 
should  be  embarked  immediately  after  dark  on  the  night  of 
the  3ist  of  December,  and  under  cover  of  all  the  gunboats, 
proceed  before  day  slowly  and  silently  up  to  the  batteries; 
the  troops  there  to  land,  storm  the  batteries,  and  hold  them. 
Whilst  this  was  going  on,  Sherman  was  to  attack  the 
enemy  below,  and  hold  him  in  check,  preventing  reinforce- 
ments going  up  to  the  bluff,  and,  in  case  of  success,  to  move 
all  his  force  thither. 

"Steele's  division  and  one  brigade  of  Morgan  L.  Smith's 
division  were  designated  and  embarked;  the  gunboats  were 
all  in  position,  and  up  to  midnight  everything  appeared  favor- 
able. 

"The  assault  was  to  take  place  about  4  A.  M.  Sherman  had 
all  his  officers  at  their  posts,  ready  to  act  on  the  first  sound 
of  cannonading  in  the  direction  of  Drumgould's  Bluff;  but 
about  daylight  he  received  a  note  from  General  Steele,  stat- 
ing that  Admiral  Porter  had  found  the  fog  so  dense  on  the 
river,  that  the  boats  could  not  move,  and  that  the  expedition 
must  be  deferred  till  another  night.  Before  night  of  Janu- 
ary, i,  1863,  he  received  a  note  from  the  admiral,  stating  that 
inasmuch  as  the  moon  would  not  set  until  twenty-five  min- 
utes past  five,  the  landing  must  be  a  daylight  affair,  which 
in  his  judgment  would  be  too  hazardous  to  try. 

"Thus   disappeared  the  only  remaining  chance  of  securing 
a  lodgment  on  the  ridge  between  the  Yazoo  and  Black  rivers, 
from  which  to  operate  upon  Vicksburg  and  the  railway  to  the 
east,  as  well  as  to  secure  the  navigation  of  the  Yazoo  River. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  169 

"  One-third  of  the  command  had  already  embarked  for  this 
expedition,  and  the  rest  were  bivouacked  in  low,  swampy, 
timbered  ground,  which  a  single  night's  rain  would  have 
made  a  quagmire.  Marks  of  overflow  stained  the  trees 
from  ten  to  twelve  feet  above  their  roots.  A  further  attempt 
against  the  center  was  deemed  by  all  the  brigade  and  division 
commanders  impracticable. 

ult  had  now  become  evident  to  all  the  commanders  that  for 
some  cause  unknown  to  them,  the  co-operating  column  under 
General  Grant  had  failed.  A  week  had  elapsed  since  the 
time  whei  it  should  have  reached  the  rear  of  Vicksburg,  yet 
nothing  was  heard  from  it.  Sherman  accordingly  decided  to 
abandon  the  attack  and  return  to  Milliken's  Bend,  which  had 
a  large  extent  of  clear  land,  houses  for  storage,  good  roads 
in  the  rear,  plenty  of  corn  and  forage,  and  the  same  advan- 
tages as  any  other  point  for  operating  against  the  enemy 
inland,  on  the  river  below  Vicksburg,  or  at  any  point  above 
where  he  might  attempt  to  interrupt  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River." 

On  the  2d  of  January  the  troops  were  embarked  and 
late  that  day  the  last  of  the  transports  passed  out  of  the 
Yazoo.  Near  the  mouth  of  that  river  General  Sherman  sur- 
rendered the  command  of  the  expedition  to  Major-General 
McClernand  and  issued  the  following  order  to  the  army: 


"HEADQUARTERS  RIGHT  WING  ARMY  OF  TENNESSEE,  1 
STR.  FOREST  QUEEN,  MILLIKEN'S  BEND,  January  4,  1863.  f 

"Pursuant  to  the  terms  of  General  Orders  Number  I,  made 
this  day  by  General  McClernand,  the  title  of  our  army  ceases 
to  exist,  and  constitutes  in  the  future  the  Army  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, composed  of  two  'army  corps,'  one  to  be  commanded 
by  General  G.  W.  Morgan  and  the  other  by  myself.  In  re- 
linquishing the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and 


170  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

restricting  my  authority  to  my  own  corps,  I  desire  to  express 
to  all  commanders,  to  soldiers  and  officers  recently  operat- 
ing before  Vicksburg,  my  hearty  thanks  for  their  zeal,  alacrity, 
and  courage  manifested  by  them  on  all  occasions.  We  failed 
in  accomplishing  one  purpose  of  our  movement,  the  capture 
of  Vicksburg;  but  we  were  part  of  a  whole.  Ours  was  but 
part  of  a  combined  movement,  in  which  others  were  to 
assist.  We  were  on  time;  unforeseen  contingencies  must  have 
delayed  the  others.  We  have  destroyed  the  Shreveport  road, 
we  have  attacked  the  defences  of  Vicksburg,  and  pushed  the 
attack  as  far  as  prudence  would  justify;  and  having  found  it 
too  strong  for  our  single  column,  we  have  drawn  off  in  good 
order  and  good  spirits,  ready  for  any  new  move.  A  new 
commander  is  now  here  to  lead  you.  He  is  chosen  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  who  is  charged  by  the  Con- 
stitution to  maintain  and  defend  it,  and  he  has  the  undoubted 
right  to  select  his  own  agents.  I  know  that  all  good  officers 
and  soldiers  will  give  him  the  same  hearty  support  and  cheerful 
obedience  they  have  hitherto  given  me.  There  are  honors 
enough  in  reserve  for  all,  and  work  enough  too.  Let  each  do  his 
appropriate  part,  and  our  nation  must  in  the  end  emerge 
from  this  dire  conflict  purified  and  ennobled  by  the  fires 
which  now  test  its  strength  and  purity.  All  officers  of  the 
general  staff  now  attached  to  my  person  will  hereafter  report 
in  person  and  by  letter  to  Major-General  McClernand,  com- 
manding the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  on  board  the  steamer 
' Tigress, '  at  our  rendezvous  at  Games'  Landing  and  at 
Montgomery  Point. 

"By  order  of  Major-General W '.  T.  SHERMAN. 

"J.  H.  HAMMOND,  A.  A.-G." 

General  Grant  had  been  detained  by  the  surrender  of  Holly 
Springs  with  its  depot  of  supplies,  and  the  enemy    had  thus 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  I /I 

been  enabled  to  concentrate  his  forces  for  the  defense  of 
Vicksburg.  The  appointment  of  McClernand  was  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  himself,  and  without  knowledge  by  the  President 
of  what  was  going  on  in  the  west.  But  the  war  correspond- 
ent again  "made  history,"  and  utilized  the  untoward  events 
to  the  injury  of  the  commander  who  had  met  every  require- 
ment and  whose  men  had  acted  like  veterans.  The  usual 
cries  of  "bungling,"  "failure,"  etc.,  were  raised,  but  that  there 
was  no  foundation  for  these  attacks  is  plainly  proved  by  the 
official  report  of  Major-General  Grant  written  after  the  final 
capture  of  Vicksburg: 

General  Grant  says:  "General  Sherman's  arrangement  as 
commander  of  troops  in  the  attack  on  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  last 
December,  was  admirable.  Seeing  the  ground  from  the  op- 
posite side  from  the  attack  afterward,  I  saw  the  impossibility 
of  making  it  successful." 

General  Sherman  cheerfully  accepted  the  subordinate  com- 
mand, and  again  proved  his  loyalty  to  the  cause  and  care- 
lessness of  personal  honor.  But  when  Admiral  Porter  came 
down  for  consultation  as  to  the  movements  of  the  immediate 
future,  the  naval  commander  practically  refused  to  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  McClernand  till  persuaded  by  Sherman  of 
the  necessity  for  the  good  of  the  service.  And  after  an  un- 
successful movement  up  the  Arkansas,  during  which  General 
McClernand — to  use  his  own  words — believed  his  "star  was 
in  the  ascendant,"  that  commander  made  a  report  totally 
ignoring  all  part  taken  by  Admiral  Porter  and  his  fleet.  One 
incident  of  that  fruitless  attempt  is  worthy  of  record  as 
told  by  General  Sherman: 

"When  daylight  broke  it  revealed  to  us  a  new  line  of  par- 
apet straight  across  the  peninsula,  connecting  Fort  Hindman, 
on  the  Arkansas  River  bank,  with  the  impassable  swamp 
about  a  mile  to  its  left  or  rear.  This  peninusla  was  divided 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

into  two  nearly  equal  parts  by  a  road.  My  command  had  the 
ground  to  the  right  of  the  road,  and  Morgan's  corps  that  to 
the  left.  McClernand  had  his  quarters  still  on  the  Tigress, 
back  at  Notrib's  farm,  but  moved  forward  that  morning 
(January  nth)  to  a  place  in  the  woods  to  our  rear,  where  he 
had  a  man  up  a  tree,  to  observe  and  report  the  movements. 

"There  was  a  general  understanding  with  Admiral  Porter  that 
he  was  to  attack  the  fort  with  his  three  iron-clad  gunboats 
directly  by  its  water-front,  while  we  assaulted  by  land  in  the 
rear.  About  10  A.  M.  I  got  a  message  from  General  McCler- 
nand, telling  me  where  he  could  be  found,  and  asking  me 
what  we  were  waiting  for.  I  answered  that  we  were  then 
in  close  contact  with  the  enemy,  viz.,  about  five  or  six  hun- 
dred yards  off;  that  the  next  movement  must'  be  a  direct 
asault;  that  this  should  be  simultaneous  along  the  whole  line; 
and  that  I  was  waiting  to  hear  from  the  gunboats;  asking  him 
to  notify  Admiral  Porter  that  we  were  all  ready. 

"As  the  gunboats  got  closer  up  I  saw  their  flags  actually 
over  the  parapet  of  Fort  Hindman,  and  the  Rebel  gunners 
scamper  out  of  the  embrasures  and  run  down  into  the  ditch 
behind.  About  the  same  time  a  man  jumped  up  on  the  Rebel 
parapet  just  where  the  road  entered,  waving  a  large  white 
flag,  and  numerous  smaller  white  rags  appeared  above  the 
parapet  along  the  whole  line.  I  immediately  ordered  'Cease 
firing!'  and  sent  the  same  word  down  the  line  to  General 
Steele,  who  had  made  similar  progress  on  the  right,  fol- 
lowing the  border  of  the  swamp.  I  ordered  my  aid,  Col- 
onel Dayton,  to  jump  on  his  horse  and  ride  straight  up  to  the 
large  white  flag,  and  when  his  horse  was  on  the  parapet  I 
followed  with  the  rest  of  my  staff.  All  firing  had  ceased,  except 
an  occasional  shot  away  to  the  right,  and  one  of  the  captains 
(Smith)  of  the  Thirteenth  Regulars  was  wounded  after  the 
display  of  the  white  flag.  On  entering  the  line,  I  saw  that 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  1/3 

our  muskets  and  guns  had  done  good  execution;  for  there 
was  a  horse-battery,  and  every  horse  lay  dead  in  the  traces. 
The  fresh-made  parapet  had  been  knocked  down  in  many 
places,  and  dead  men  lay  around  very  thick.  I  inquired  who 
commanded  at  that  point,  and  a  Colonel  Garland  stepped  up 
and  said  that  he  commanded  that  brigade.  I  ordered  him 
to  form  his  brigade,  stack  arms,  hang  the  belts  on  the  mus- 
kets, and  stand  waiting  for  orders.  Stuart's  division  had  been 
halted  outside  the  parapet.  I  then  sent  Major  Hammond 
down  the  Rebel  line  to  the  right,  with  orders  to  stop  Steele's 
division  outside,  and  to  have  the  other  Rebel  brigade  stack 
its  arms  in  like  manner,  and  to  await  further  orders.  I  in- 
quired of  Colonel  Garland  who  commanded  in  chief,  and  he 
said  that  General  Churchill  did,  and  that  he  was  inside  the 
fort.  I  then  rode  into  the  fort,  which  was  well  built,  with 
good  parapets,  drawbridge,  and  ditch,  and  was  an  inclosed 
work  of  four  bastions.  I  found  it  full  of  soldiers  and  sailors, 
its  parapets  toward  the  river  well  battered  in,  and  Porter's 
gunboats  in  the  river,  close  against  the  fort,  with  their  bows 
on  shore.  I  soon  found  General  Churchill  in  conversation 
with  Admiral  Porter  and  General  A.  J.  Smith,  and  about 
this  time  my  adjutant-general,  Major  J.  H.  Hammond,  came 
and  reported  that  General  Deshler,  who  commanded  the  rebel 
brigade  facing  and  opposed  to  Steele,  had  refused  to  stack 
arms  and  surrender,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  received  no 
orders  from  his  commanding  general;  that  nothing  separated 
this  brigade  from  Steele's  men  except  the  light  parapet,  and 
that  there  might  be  trouble  there  at  any  moment.  I  advised 
General  Churchill  to  send  orders  at  once,  because  a  single  shot 
might  bring  the  whole  of  Steele's  division  on  Deshler's  brig- 
ade, and  I  would  not  be  responsible  for  the  consequences; 
soon  afterward,  we  both  concluded  to  go  in  person.  Gen- 
eral Churchill  had  the  horses  for  himself  and  staff  in  the 


1/4  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ditch;  they  were  brought  in,  and  we  rode  together  to  where 
Garland  was  standing,  and  Churchill  spoke  to  him  in  an  angry 
tone:  *  Why  did  you  display  the  white  flag! '  Garland  replied, 
'I  received  orders  to  do  so  from  one  of  our  staff.'  Churchill 
denied  giving  such  an  order,  and  angry  words  passed  between 
them.  I  stopped  them,  saying  that  it  made  little  difference 
then,  as  they  were  in  our  power.  We  continued  to  ride  down 
the  line  to  its  extreme  point,  where  we  found  Deshler  in  person, 
and  his  troops  were  still  standing  to  the  parapet  with  their 
muskets  in  hand.  Steele's  men  were  on  the  outside.  I 
asked  Deshler:  'What  does  this  mean?  You  are  a  regular 
officer,  and  ought  to  know  better. '  He  answered,  snappishly, 
that  'he  had  received  no  orders  to  surrender;'  when  General 
Churchill  said:  'You  see,  sir,  that  we  are  in  their  power,  and 
you  may  surrender. '  Deshler  turned  to  his  staff-officers  and 
ordered  them  to  repeat  the  command  to  'stack  arms,'  etc., 
to  the  colonels  of  his  brigade.  I  was  on  my  horse  and  he 
was  on  foot.  Wishing  to  soften  the  blow  of  defeat,  I 
spoke  to  him  kindly  saying  that  I  knew  a  family  of  Deshlers 
in  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  inquired  if  they  were  relations  of 
his.  He  disclaimed  any  relation  with  people  living  north  of 
the  Ohio,  in  an  offensive  tone,  and  I  think  I  gave  him  a  piece 
of  my  mind  that  he  did  not  relish.  He  was  a  West  Point 
graduate,  small  but  very  handsome,  and  was  afterward 
killed  in  battle.  I  never  met  him  again." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

VICKSBURG  AND  ITS  RESULTS — WORK  OF  PREPARATION  FOR  THE 

GREAT    SIEGE — HARD    FIGHTING   AND   THE    FINAL 

OPENING   OF   THE    MISSISSIPPI. 

The  campaign  of  1863  opened  early,  and  the  plans  for  an 
active  campaign  were  determined  by  the  consultation  of  two 
men  now  recognized  as  the  greatest  generals  of  the  war. 

Early  in  January  General  Grant  visited  the  headquarters 
of  General  McClernand  near  the  town  of  Napoleon,  Arkansas. 
Although  McClernand  was  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Mississippi  by  virtue  of  the  order  of  the  War  department, 
Grant  outranked  him  because  of  his  general  command  over 
the  department  of  the  Tennessee.  By  an  order  No.  210  of 
December  18,  1862,  from  the  War  Department,  received  at 
Arkansas  Post,  the  Western  armies  had  been  grouped  into 
five  corps  d'armee,  viz  :  the  Thirteenth,  Major-General  Mc- 
Clernand; the  Fourteenth,  Major-General  George  H.  Thomas, 
in  Middle  Tennessee;  the  Fifteenth,  Major-General  W.  T. 
Sherman;  the  Sixteenth,  Major-General  Hurlbut,  then  at 
or  near  Memphis;  and  the  Seventeenth,  Major-General  Mc- 
Pherson,  also  at  the  back  of  Memphis.  Grant  had  ordered 
the  two  corps  commanded  by  Sherman  and  McClernand 
to  return  to  Vicksburg  and  resume  work  on  the  canal,  which 
had  been  commenced  by  General  Thomas  Williams.  The 
work  on  canal  building  was  pushed  vigorously,  though  the 
troops  were  much  troubled  by  the  unusually  high  water.  Gen- 
eral Grant  made  reconnoissance  in  person  and  communicated 
his  discoveries  to  Sherman,  who  on  receipt  gave  prompt  or- 

'75 


176  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

ders  to  the  troops  and  within  an  hour  and  a  half  returned  to 
General  Grant  word  that  the  regiment  was  ready. 

"MILLIKEN'S  BEND,  March  16,  1863. 
"  General  SHERMAN. 

"DEAR  SIR:  I  have  just  returned  from  a  reconnoissance 
up  Steele's  Bayou,  with  the  admiral  (Porter),  and  five  of  his 
gunboats.  With  some  labor  in  cutting  tree-tops  out  of  the 
way,  it  will  be  navigable  for  any  class  of  steamers. 

"I  want  to  have  your  pioneer  corps,  or  one  regiment  of 
good  men  for  such  work,  detailed  and  at  the  landing  as  soon 
as  possible. 

"The  party  will  want  to  take  with  them  their  rations, 
arms,  and  sufficient  camp  and  garrison  equipage  for  a  few 
days.  I  will  have  a  boat  at  any  place  you  may  designate, 
as  early  as  the  men  can  be  there.  The  Eighth  Missouri  (being 
many  of  them  boatmen)  would  be  excellent  men  for  this  pur- 
pose. 

"As  soon   as  you   give   directions  for  these   men  to   be  in 
readiness,  come   up   and   see   me,  and   I   will    explain  fully. 
The  tug  that  takes  this  is  instructed  to  wait  for  you.      A  full 
supply  of  axes  will  be  required. 
"Very  respectfully, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Major-General. 

General  Sherman  also  received  the  following  order: 

"HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 
BEFORE  VICKSBURG,   March  16,  1863. 

"Major-General  W.    T.     SHERMAN,    commanding    Fifteenth 

Army  Corps. 

"GENERAL:  You  will  proceed  as  early  as  practicable  up 
Steele's  Bayou,  and  through  Black  Bayou  to  Deer  Creek, 
and  thence  with  the  gunboats  now  there  by  any  route  they 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

may  take  to  get  into  the  Yazoo  River,  for  the  purpose  of 
determining  the  feasibility  of  getting  an  army  through  that 
route  to  the  east  bank  of  that  river,  and  at  a  point  from 
which  they  can  act  advantageously  against  Vicksburg. 

"Make  such  details  from  your  army  corps  as  may  be  re- 
quired to  clear  out  the  channel  of  the  various  bayous  through 
which  transports  would  have  to  run,  and  to  hold  such  points 
as  in  your  judgment  should  be  occupied. 

"I  place  at  your  disposal  to-day  the  steamers  Diligent  and 
Silver  Wave,  the  only  two  suitable  for  the  present  navigation 
of  this  route.  Others  will  be  supplied  you  as  fast  as  required 
and  they  can  be  got. 

"I  have  given  directions  (and  you  may  repeat  them;  that 
the  party  going  on  board  the  steamer  Diligent  push  on  until 
they  reach  Black  Bayou,  only  stopping  sufficiently  long  at 
any  point  before  reaching  there  to  remove  such  obstructions 
as  prevent  their  own  progress.  Captain  Kossak,  of  the  En- 
gineers, will  go  with  this  party.  The  other  boat-load  will 
commence  their  work  in  Steele's  Bayou,  and  make  the  navi- 
gation as  free  as  possible  all  the  way  through. 

"There  is  but   little   work  to   be   done  in   Steele's   Bayou, 
except  for  about  five  miles  about  midway  of  the  bayou.      In 
this  portion  many  overhanging  trees  will  have  to  be  removed, 
and  should  be  dragged  out  of  the  channel. 
"Very  respectfully, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Major-General:'1 

The  gunboats  were  prepared  to  remove  obstructions  and 
moved  up  the  Yazoo  and  Steele's  Bayou.  Part  of  Stuart's 
division  went  up  the  Mississippi  to  Gwin's  plantation  and  the 
next  day  General  Sherman  and  several  officers  took  a  tug  for 
the  purpose  of  overtaking  Admiral  Porter.  This  was  accom- 
plished at  a  point  about  seventy  miles  up  the  river.  Porter 
12 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

thought  he  had  passed  through  the  worst,  and  urged  General 
Sherman  to  return  and  clear  out  the  Black  Bayou.  Having 
a  tug  at  his  disposal,  General  Sherman  devoted  much  of  his 
time  to  personal  inspection  of  the  work  as  it  progressed  and 
of  a  careful  examination  of  the  surrounding  country.  During 
the  afternoon  of  the  ipth  we  heard  heavy  firing,  which  Gen- 
eral Sherman  at  once  understood  was  something  more  than 
skirmishing  or  guerrillas,  and  that  night  he  received  a  com- 
munication written  on  tissue  paper  and  brought  to  him  by  a 
negro.  Says  the  General: 

"The  admiral  stated  that  he  had  met  a  force  of  infantry 
and  artillery  which  gave  him  great  trouble  by  killing  the  men 
who  had  to  expose  themselves  outside  the  iron  armor  to 
shove  off  the  bows  of  the  boats,  which  had  so  little  headway 
that  they  would  not  steer.  He  begged  me  to  come  to  his 
rescue  as  quickly  as  possible.  Giles  A.  Smith  had  only  about 
eight  hundred  men  with  him,  but  I  ordered  him  to  start  up 
Deer  Creek  at  once,  crossing  to  the  east  side  by  an  old  bridge 
at  Hill's  plantation,  which  we  had  repaired  for  the  purpose; 
to  work  his  way  up  to  the  gunboat-fleet,  and  to  report  to  the 
admiral  that  I  would  come  up  with  every  man  I  could  raise 
as  soon  as  possible.  I  was  almost  alone  at  Hill's,  but  took 
a  canoe,  paddled  down  Black  Bayou  to  the  gunboat  Price, 
and  there,  luckily,  found  the  Silver  Wave  with  a  load  of  men 
just  arrived  from  Gwin's  plantation.  Taking  some  of  the 
parties  who  were  at  work  along  the  bayou  into  an  empty 
coal-barge,  we  tugged  it  up  by  a  navy-tug,  followed  by  the 
Silver  Wave,  crashing  through  the  trees,  carrying  away 
pilot-house,  smoke-stacks,  and  everything  above-deck;  but 
the  captain  (McMillan,  of  Pittsburgh)  was  a  brave  fellow,  and 
realized  the  necessity.  The  night  was  absolutely  black,  and 
we  could  make  two  and  a  half  of  the  four  miles.  We  then 
disembarked,  and  marched  through  the  canebrake,  carrying 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  179 

lighted  candles  in  our  hands,  till  we  got  into  the  open  cotton- 
fields  at  Hill's  plantation,  where  we  lay  down  for  a  few  hours' 
rest.  These  men  were  a  part  of  Giles  A.  Smith's  brigade, 
and  part  belonged  to  the  brigade  of  T.  Kirby  Smith,  the 
senior  officer  present  being  Lieutenant-Colonel  Rice,  Fifty- 
fourth  Ohio,  an  excellent  young  officer.  We  had  no  horses. 
"On  Sunday  morning,  March  21,  as  soon  as  daylight 
appeared,  we  started,  following  the  same  route  which  Giles 
A.  Smith  had  taken  the  day  before;  the  battalion  of  the 
Thirteenth  United  States  Regulars,  Major  Chase,  in  the  lead. 
We  could  hear  Porter's  guns,  and  knew  that  moments  were 
precious.  Being  on  foot  myself,  no  man  could- complain,  and 
we  generally  went  at  the  double-quick,  with  occasional  rests. 
The  road  lay  along  Deer  Creek,  passing  several  plantations; 
and  occasionally,  at  the  bends,  it  crossed  the  swamp,  where 
the  water  came  above  the  hips.  The  smaller  drummer-boys 
had  to  carry  their  drums  on  their  heads,  and  most  of  the  men 
slung  their  cartridge-boxes  around  their  necks.  The  soldiers 
generally  were  glad  to  have  their  general  and  field  officers 
afoot,  but  we  gave  them  a  fair  specimen  of  marching,  accom- 
plishing about  twenty-one  miles  by  noon.  Of  course,  our 
speed  was  accelerated  by  the  sounds  of  the  navy-guns,  which 
became  more  and  more  distinct,  though  we  could  see  nothing. 
At  a  plantation  near  some  Indian  mounds  we  met  a  detach- 
ment of  the  Eighth  Missouri,  that  had  been  up  to  the  fleet, 
and  had  been  sent  down  as  a  picket  to  prevent  any  obstruc- 
tions below.  This  picket  reported  that  Admiral  Porter  had 
found  Deer  Creek  badly  obstructed,  had  turned  back;  that 
there  was  a  Rebel  force  beyond  the  fleet,  with  some  six-pound- 
ers, and  nothing  between  us  and  the  fleet.  So  I  sat  down 
on  the  door-sill  of  a  cabin  to  rest,  but  had  not  been  seated 
ten  minutes  when,  in  the  wood  just  ahead,  not  three  hundred 
yards  off,  I  heard  quick  and  rapid  firing  of  musketry.  Jump- 


ISO  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ing  up,  I  ran  up  the  road,  and  found  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Rice,  who  said  the  head  of  his  column  had  struck  a  small 
force  of  Rebels  with  a  working  gang  of  negroes,  provided  with 
axes,  who  on  the  first  fire  had  broken  and  run  back  into  the 

swamp.      I  ordered  Rice  to  deploy  his  brigade,  his  left  on  the 

i 

road,  and  extending  as  far  into  the  swamp  as  the  ground  would 
permit,  and  then  to  sweep  forward  until  he  uncovered  the 
gunboats.  The  movement  was  rapid  and  well  executed,  and 
we  soon  came  to  some  large  cotton-fields  and  could  see  our 
gunboats  in  Deer  Creek,  occasionally  firing  a  heavy  eight-inch 
gun  across  the  cotton-field  into  the  swamp  behind.  About 
that  time  a  Major  Kirby,  of  the  Eighth  Missouri,  galloped 
down  the  road  on  a  horse  he  had  picked  up  the  night  before, 
and  met  me.  He  explained  the  situation  of  affairs,  and 
offered  me  his  horse.  I  got  on  bareback,  and  rode  up  the 
levee,  the  sailors  coming  out  of  their  iron-clads  and  cheering 
most  vociferously  as  I  rode  by,  and  as  our  men  swept  for- 
ward across  the  cotton-field  in  full  view.  I  soon  found  Ad- 
miral Porter,  who  was  on  the  deck  of  one  of  his  iron-clads, 
with  a  shield  made  of  the  section  of  a  smoke-stack,  and  I 
doubt  if  he  was  ever  more  glad  to  meet  a  friend  than  he  was 
to  see  me.  He  explained  that  he  had  almost  reached  the  Roll- 
ing Fork,  when  the  woods  became  full  of  sharp-shooters,  who, 
taking  advantage  of  trees,  stumps,  and  the  levee,  would  shoot 
down  every  man  that  poked  his  nose  outside  the  protection 
of  their  armor;  so  that  he  could  not  handle  his  clumsy  boats 
in  the  narrow  channel.  The  Rebels  had  evidently  dispatched 
a  force  from  Haines'  Bluff  up  the  Sunflower  to  the  Rolling 
Fork,  had  anticipated  the  movement  of  Admiral  Porter's  fleet, 
and  had  completely  obstructed  the  channel  of  the  upper  part 
of  Deer  Creek  by  felling  trees  into  it,  so  that  further  progress 
in  that  direction  was  simply  impossible.  It  also  happened 
that,  at  the  instant  of  my  arrival,  a  party  of  about  four 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  l8l 

hundred  Rebels,  armed  and  supplied  with  axes,  had  passed 
around  the  fleet  and  had  got  below  it,  intending  in  like  man- 
ner to  block  up  the  channel  by  the  felling  of  trees,  so  as  to 
cut  off  retreat.  This  was  the  force  we  had  struck  so  oppor- 
tunely at  the  time  before  described.  I  inquired  of  Admiral 
Porter  what  he  proposed  to  do,  and  he  said  he  wanted  to  get 
out  of  that  scrape  as  quickly  as  possible.  He  was  actually 
working  back  when  I  met  him,  and,  as  we  then  had  a  sufficient 
force  to  cover  his  movement  completely,  he  continued  to  back 
down  Deer  Creek.  He  informed  me  at  one  time  things  looked 
so  critical  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  blow  up  the  gun- 
boats, and  to  escape  with  his  men  through  the  swamp  to 
the  Mississippi  River.  There  being  no  longer  any  sharp- 
shooters to  bother  the  sailors,  they  made  good  progress;  still, 
it  took  three  full  days  for  the  fleet  to  back  out  of  Deer  Creek 
into  Black  Bayou,  at  Hill's  plantation,  whence  Admiral 
Porter  proceeded  to  his  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  leav- 
ing Captain  Owen  in  command  of  the  fleet.  I  reported  the 
facts  to  General  Grant,  who  was  sadly  disappointed  at  the 
failure  of  the  fleet  to  get  through  the  Yazoo  above  Haines' 
Bluff,  and  ordered  us  all  to  resume  our  camps  at  Young's 
Point.  We  accordingly  steamed  down,  and  regained  our 
camps  on  the  2/th.  As  this  expedition  up  Deer  Creek  was 
but  one  of  many  efforts  to  secure  a  footing  from  which  to 
operate  against  Vicksburg,  I  add  the  report  of  Brigadier- 
General  Giles  A.  Smith,  who  was  the  first  to  reach  the  fleet: 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE,  SECOND  DIVISION,  \ 

FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  v 
YOUNG'S  POINT,  LOUISIANA,  March  28,  1863.  ) 
"Captain  L.  M.  DAYTON,  Assistant  Adjutant-General, 

"CAPTAIN:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  movements  of 
the  First  Brigade  in  the  expedition  up  Steele's  Bayou,  Black 
Bayou,  and  Deer  Creek. 


1 82  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"The  Sixth  Missouri  and  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Illi- 
nois regiments  embarked  at  the  mouth  of  Muddy  Bayou  on  the 
evening  of  Thursday,  the  i8th  of  March,  and  proceed  up 
Steele's  Bayou  to  the  mouth  of  Black;  thence  up  Black 
Bayou  to  Hill's  plantation,  at  its  junction  with  Deer  Creek, 
where  we  arrived  on  Friday  at  four  o'clock  p.  M.,  and  joined 
the  Eighth  Missouri,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Coleman  command- 
ing, which  had  arrived  at  that  point  two  days  before.  Gen- 
eral Sherman  had  also  established  his  headquarters  there, 
having  preceded  the  Eighth  Missouri  in  a  tug,  with  no 
other  escort  than  two  or  thre^  of  his  staff,  reconnoiter- 
ing  all  the  different  bayous  and  branches,  thereby  greatly 
facilitating  the  movements  of  the  troops,  but  at  the  same 
.time  exposing  himself  beyond  precedent  in  a  command- 
ing general.  At  three  o'clock  of  Saturday  morning,  the  2Oth 
instant,  General  Sherman  having  received  a  communication 
from  Admiral  Porter  at  the  mouth  of  Rolling  Fork,  asking 
for  a  speedy  co-operation  of  the  land  forces  with  his  fleet, 
I  was  ordered  by  General  Sherman  to  be  ready,  with  all  the 
available  force  at  that  point,  to  accompany  him  to  his  relief; 
but  before  starting  it  was  arranged  that  I  should  proceed 
with  the  force  at  hand  (eight  hundred  men),  while  he  re- 
mained, again  entirely  unprotected,  to  hurry  up  the  troops 
expected  to  arrive  that  night,  consisting  of  the  Thirteenth 
Infantry  and  One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Illinois  Volunteers, 
completing  my  brigade,  and  the  Second  Brigade,  Colonel  T. 
Kirby  Smith  commanding. 

"This,  as  the  sequel  showed,  proved  a  very  wise  measure, 
and  resulted  in  the  safety  of  the  whole  fleet.  At  daybreak 
we  were  in  motion,  with  a  regular  guide.  We  had  proceeded 
but  about  six  miles,  when  we  found  the  enemy  had  been  very 
busy  felling  trees  to  obstruct  the  creek. 

"All  the  negroes   along  the  route  had  been  notified  to  be 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  183 

ready  at  nightfall  to  continue  the  work.  To  prevent  this  as 
much  as  possible,  I  ordered  all  able-bodied  negroes  to  be 
taken  along,  and  warned  some  of  the  principal  inhabitants 
that  they  would  be  held  responsible  for  any  more  obstruc- 
tions being  placed  across  the  creek.  We  reached  the  admiral 
about  4  o'clock  P.  M.,  with  no  opposition  save  my  advance- 
guard  (Company  A,  Sixth  Missouri),  being  fired  into  from  the 
opposite  side  of  the  creek,  killing  one  man,  and  slightly  wound- 
ing another;  having  no  way  of  crossing,  we  had  to  content 
ourselves  with  driving  them  beyond  musket-range.  Proceed- 
ing with  as  little  loss  of  time  as  possible,  I  found  the  fleet  ob- 
structed in  front  by  fallen  trees,  in  rear  by  a  sunken  coal- 
barge,  and  surrounded  by  a  large  force  of  Rebels  with  an 
abundant  supply  of  artillery,  but  wisely  keeping  their  main 
force  out  of  range  of  the  admiral's  guns.  Every  tree  and 
stump  covered  a  sharp-shooter,  ready  to  pick  off  any  luckless 
marine  who  showed  his  head  above-decks,  and  entirely  pre- 
venting the  working-parties  from  removing  obstructions. 

"In  pursuance  of  orders  from  General  Sherman,  I  reported 
to  Admiral  Porter  for  orders,  who  turned  over  to  me  all  the 
land-forces  in  his  fleet  (about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men),  to- 
gether with  two  howitzers,  and  I  was  instructed  by  him  to 
retain  a  sufficient  force  to  clear  out  the  sharp-shooters,  and 
to  distribute  the  remainder  along  the  creek  for  six  or  seven 
miles  below,  to  prevent  any  more  obstructions  being  placed 
in  it  during  the  night.  This  was  speedily  arranged,  our 
skirmishers  capturing  three  prisoners.  Immediate  steps  were 
now  taken  to  remove  the  coal-barge,  which  was  accom- 
plished about  daylight  on  Sunday  morning,  when  the  fleet 
moved  back  toward  Black  Bayou.  By  3  o'clock  P.  M.  we  had 
only  made  about  six  miles,  owing  to  the  large  number  of  trees 
to  be  removed;  at  this  point,  where  our  progress  was  very  slow, 
we  discovered  a  long  line  of  the  enemy  filing  along  the  edge 


1 84  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

of  the  woods,  and  taking  position  on  the  creek  below  us, 
about  one  mile  ahead  of  our  advance.  Shortly  after,  they 
opened  fire  on  the  gunboats  from  batteries  behind  the  cavalry 
and  infantry.  The  boats  not  only  replied  to  the  batteries, 
which  they  soon  silenced,  but  poured  a  destructive  fire  into 
their  lines.  Heavy  skirmishing  was  also  heard  in  our  front, 
supposed  to  be  by  three  companies  from  the  Sixth  and  Eighth 
Missouri,  whose  position,  taken  the  previous  night  to  guard 
the  creek,  was  beyond  the  point  reached  by  the  enemy,  and 
consequently  liable  to  be  cut  off  or  captured.  Captain  Owen, 
of  the  Louisville,  the  leading  boat,  made  every  effort  to  go 
through  the  obstructions  and  aid  in  rescuing  the  men.  I 
ordered  Major  Kirby,  with  four  companies  of  the  Sixth  Mis- 
souri, forward,  with  two  companies  deployed.  He  soon  met 
General  Sherman,  with  the  Thirteenth  Infantry  and  One 
Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Illinois,  driving  the  enemy  before 
them,  and  opening  communication  along  the  creek  with  the 
gunboats.  Instead  of  our  three  companies  referred  to  as 
engaging  the  enemy,  General  Sherman  had  arrived  at  a  very 
opportune  moment  with  the  two  regiments  mentioned  above, 
and  the  Second  Brigade.  The  enemy,  not  expecting  an 
attack  from  that  quarter,  after  some  hot  skirmishing,  retreated. 
General  Sherman  immediately  ordered  the  Thirteenth  Infan- 
try and  One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Illinois  to  pursue;  but, 
after  following  their  trace  for  about  two  miles,  they  were 
recalled. 

"We  continued  our  march  for  about  two  miles,  when  we 
bivouacked  for  the  night.  Early  on  Monday  morning,  March 
22d,  we  continued  our  march,  but  owing  to  the  slow  prog- 
ress of  the  gunboats  did  not  reach  Hill's  plantation  until 
Tuesday,  the  23d  instant,  where  we  remained  until  the  25th; 
we  then  re-embarked,  and  arrived  at  Young's  Point  on  Fri- 
day, the  27th  instant. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  185 

"Below  you  will  find  a  list  of   casualties. 

"Very  respectfully, 

"GILES  A.  SMITH, 

"Colonel  Eighth  Missouri  Commanding  First  brigade" 

"P.  S. — I  forgot  to  state  above  that  the  Thirteenth  Infantry 
and  One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Illinois,  being  under  the 
immediate  command  of  General  Sherman,  he  can  mention 
them  as  their  conduct  deserves." 

At  this  time  it  became  evident  that  the  Mississippi  River 
could  not  be  diverted  from  its  course.  Every  camp  was  full 
of  rumors  of  disagreements  and  the  army  correspondents 
again  were  active.  There  was  but  little  on  which  to  base 
the  absurd  stories.  The  officers  and  men  constantly  argued 
among  themselves  as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  different  plans. 
But  it  was  apparent  that  some  officer  high  in  command  was 
seeking  personal  advantage.  General  Sherman  understood 
what  influences  were  at  work,  and  sent  his  famous  letter  to 
General  Rawlins,  seeking  to  unmask  the  batteries  of  McCler- 
nand  and  make  him  show  his  hand  if  possible.  This  letter 
was  called  a  protest  against  the  very  man  to  aid  whom  it  was 
written.  It  was  as  follows: 

"HEADQUARTERS  I$TH  ARMY  CORPS,  ) 
CAMP  NEAR  VICKSBURG,  April  8,  1863.     j 

Colonel    J.     A.     RAWLINS,     Assistant    Adjutant-General    to 

General  GRANT. 

"SiR:  I  would  most  respectfully  suggest  (for  reasons 
which  I  will  not  name)  that  General  Grant  call  on  his  corps 
commanders  for  their  opinions,  concise  and  positive,  on  the 
best  general  plan  of  campaign.  Unless  this  be  done,  there 
are  men  who  will,  in  any  result  falling  below  the  popular 
standard,  claim  that  their  advice  was  unheeded,  and  that  fatal 
consequence  resulted  therefrom.  My  opinions  are — 


1 86  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

"  i.  That  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  is  now  far  in  advance 
of  the  other  grand  armies  of  the  United  States. 

"2.  That  a  corps  from  Missouri  should  forthwith  be  moved 
from  St.  Louis  to  the  vicinity  of  Little  Rock,  Arkansas; 
supplies  collected  there  while  the  river  is  full,  and  land  com- 
munication with  Memphis  opened  via  Des  Arc  on  the  White, 
and  Madison  on  the  St.  Francis  River. 

"3.  That  as  much  of  the  Yazoo  Pass,  Coldwater,  and  Tal- 
lahatchee  Rivers,  as  can  be  gained  and  fortified,  be  held,  and 
the  main  army  be  transported  thither  by  land  and  water; 
that  the  road  back  to  Memphis  be  secured  and  reopened, 
and,  as  soon  as  the  waters  subside,  Grenada  be  attacked,  and 
the  swamp-road  across  to  Helena  be  patrolled  by  cavalry. 

"4.  That  the  line  of  the  Yalabusha  be  the  base  from  which 
to  operate  against  the  points  where  the  Mississippi  Central 
crosses  Big  Black,  above  Canton;  and,  lastly,  where  the 
Vicksburg  &  Jackson  Railroad  crosses  the  same  river  (Big 
Black.)  The  capture  of  Vicksburg  would  result. 

"5.  That  a  minor  force  be  left  in  this  vicinity,  not  to  ex- 
ceed ten  thousand  men,  with  only  enough  steamboats  to  float 
and  transport  them  to  any  desired  point;  this  force  to  be 
held  always  near  enough  to  act  with  the  gunboats  when  the 
main  army  is  known  to  be  near  Vicksburg — Haines'  Bluff  or 
Yazoo  City. 

"6.  I  do  doubt  the  capacity  of  Willow  Bayou,  which  I 
estimate  to  be  fifty  miles  long  and  very  tortuous,  as  a  mili- 
tary channel,  to  supply  an  army  large  enough  to  operate 
against  Jackson,  Mississippi,  or  the  Black  River  Bridge;  and 
such  a  channel  will  be  very  vulnerable  to  a  force  coming  from 
the  west,  which  we  must  expect.  Yet  this  canal  will  be 
most  useful  as  the  way  to  convey  coals  and  supplies  to  a 
fleet  that  should  navigate  the  lower  reach  of  the  Mississippi 
between  Vicksburg  and  the  Red  River. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  187 

"7.  The  chief  reason  for  operating  solely  by  water  was 
the  season  of  the  year  and  high  water  in  the  Tallahatchee 
and  Yalabusha  Rivers.  The  spring  is  now  here,  and  soon 
these  streams  will  be  no  serious  obstacle,  save  in  the  ambus- 
cades of  the  forest,  and  whatever  works  the  enemy  may  have 
erected  at  or  near  Grenada.  North  Mississippi  is  too  val- 
uable for  us  to  allow  the  enemy  to  hold  it  and  make  crops 
this  year. 

"I  make  these  suggestions,  with  the  request  that  General 
Grant  will  read  them  and  give  them,  as  I  know  he  will,  a 
share  of  his  thoughts.  I  would  prefer  that  he  should  not  an- 
swer this  letter,  but  merely  give  it  as  much  or  as  little 
weight  as  it  deserves.  Whatever  plan  of  action  he  may  adopt 
will  receive  from  me  the  same  zealous  co-operation  and  en- 
ergetic support  as  though  conceived  by  myself.  I  do  not 
believe  General  Banks  will  make  any  serious  attack  on  Port 
Hudson  this  spring. 

"I  am,  etc., 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 

General  Grant  was  not  disturbed  by  the  intimation  con- 
tained in  the  warning  letter  from  his  friend,  and  allowed 
those  to  exercise  their  peculiar  talents  who  thought  to  make 
the  war  a  stepping-stone  to  greater  heights  than  mere  military 
affairs.  He  was  too  intent  upon  defeating  an  enemy  in  front, 
to  care  much  for  those  in  the  rear.  General  Sherman  had 
his  own  views  regarding  the  manner  of  moving  on  Vicks- 
burg,  but  never  failed  to  do  justice  to  his  commander,  and 
especially  never  used  the  lessons  of  experience  as  a  basis  for 
hostile  criticism.  Both  these  soldiers  have  often  confessed 
that  if  they  had  had  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1862  the  knowl- 
edge they  possessed  a  few  months  later  they  would  have  pur- 
sued a  different  course  in  attacking  Vicksburg.  That  this  other 


188  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

plan  coincided  with  the  views  previously  expressed  by  Gen- 
eral Sherman,  never  was  used  by  him  to  sneer  at  the  abilities 
of  Grant. 

This  expedition  proved  a  failure.  But  Vicksburg  was  to 
be  taken,  if  not  in  one  way  then  in  another.  General  Grant's 
orders  for  the  movement  past  Vicksburg  via  Richmond  and 
Carthage  were  dated  April  20,  1863,  and  assigned  Mc- 
Clernand's  I3th  corps  the  right  and  McPherson's  i/th  the 
center,  and  Sherman's  I5th  the  left.  On  the  26th  of  April 
General  Grant  sent  word  to  General  Sherman  to  wait  till  the 
roads  were  better  or  the  canals  were  finished  before  making 
further  advance.  On  the  28th,  General  Sherman  received 
word  from  Grant  that  the  attack  on  Grand  Gulf  was  to  be 
made  on  the  following  day,  and  suggested  that  a  simultaneous 
feint  be  made  on  the  enemy's  batteries  on  the  Yazoo,  near 
Haines'  Bluff,  provided  it  could  be  made  without  the  ill-effect 
on  the  army  and  the  country  of  an  apparent  repulse.  The  ob- 
ject was  to  make  a  show,  in  order  to  prevent  reinforcements 
being  sent  from  Vicksburg  to  the  assistance  of  the  forces  to  be 
encountered  at  Grand  Gulf.  "The  ruse, "says  General  Grant, 
"succeeded  admirable. >r  Sherman  gave  the  necessary  orders, 
embarked  Blair's  second  division  on  ten  steamboats,  and 
about  10  A.  M.  on  the  29th  of  April,  proceeded  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Yazoo,  where  he  found  the  flag-boat  Black  Hawk, 
Captain  Breese,  with  the  Choctaw  and  De  Kalb,  iron-clads, 
and  the  Tyler,  and  several  smaller  wooden  boats  of  the  fleet, 
already  with  steam  up,  prepared  to  co-operate  in  the  pro- 
posed demonstration  against  Haines'  Bluff. 

The  gunboats  at  once  engaged  the  batteries,  and  for  four 
hours  a  vigorous  demonstration  was  kept  up.  Toward  even- 
ing, Sherman  ordered  the  division  of  troops  to  disembark  in 
full  view  of  the  enemy,  and  seemingly  prepare  to  assault; 
knowing  that  there  was  no  road  across  the  submerged  field 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  189 

that  lay  between  the  river  and  the  bluff.  As  soon  as  the 
troops  were  fairly  out  on  the  levee,  the  gunboats  resumed 
their  fire  and  the  enemy's  batteries  replied  with  spirit.  The 
enemy  could  be  seen  moving  guns,  artillery,  and  infantry  back 
and  forth,  and  evidently  expecting  a  real  attack.  Keeping 
up  appearances  until  night,  the  troops  were  re-embarked. 
During  the  next  day  similar  movements  were  made,  accom- 
panied by  reconnoissances  of  all  the  country  on  both  sides 
of  the  Yazoo. 

While  there,  orders  came  from  General  Grant  to  hurry  for- 
ward to  Grand  Gulf.  Dispatching  orders  to  the  divisions  of 
Steele  and  Tuttle  at  once  to  march  for  Grand  Gulf,  via  Rich- 
mond, Sherman  prolonged  the  demonstration  till  night  and 
quietly  dropped  back  to  his  camp  at  Young's  Point. 

"In  the  meantime,  as  many  of  the  Thirteenth  Army  Corps  as 
could  be  got  on  board  the  transports  and  barges  were  em- 
barked, and  were  moved  down  to  the  front  of  Grand  Gulf,  for 
the  purpose  of  landing  and  storming  the  enemy's  works  as 
soon  as  the  navy  should  have  silenced  the  guns.  Admiral 
Porter's  fleet  opened  at  8  A.  M.  on  the  29th  of  April,  and 
gallantly  kept  up  a  vigorous  fire  at  short  range  for  more 
thfin  five  hours;  by  which  time  General  Grant,  who  witnessed 
the  engagement  from  a  tug-boat,  became  convinced  that  the 
enemy's  guns  were  too  elevated  to  be  silenced,  and  his  fortifi- 
cations too  strong  to  be  taken  from  the  water-front.  He  at 
once  ordered  the  troops  back  to  Hard  Times,  there  to  disem- 
bark and  march  across  the  point  to  the  plain  immediately  be- 
low Grand  Gulf.  During  the  night,  under  cover  of  the  fire  of  the 
gunboats,  all  the  transports  and  barges  ran  safely  past  the  bat- 
teries. They  were  immediately  followed  by  the  fleet,  and 
at  daylight,  on  the  3Oth,  the  work  of  ferrying  the  troops  over 
to  Bruinsburg  was  commenced.  The  Thirteenth  Corps  was 
started  on  the  road  to  Port  Gibson  as  soon  as  it  could  draw 


IQO  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

three  days'  rations,  and  the  Seventeenth  Corps  followed  as 
fast  as  it  was  landed  on  the  east  bank.  The  enemy  was  met 
in  force  near  Port  Gibson  at  two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  ist  of  May,  was  driven  back  on  the  following  day,  was 
pursued  across  the  Bayou  Pierre,  and  eight  miles  beyond  the 
north  fork  of  the  same  bayou,  both  which  streams  were 
bridged  by  McPherson's  corps,  and  on  the  3d  of  May,  with 
slight  skirmishing  all  day,  was  pushed  to  and  across  the  Big 
Black  River,  at  Hankinson's  Ferry.  Finding  here  that  the 
enemy  had  evacuated  Grand  Gulf,  and  that  we  were  already 
fifteen  miles  from  that  place  on  the  direct  road  to  either 
Vicksburg  or  Jackson,  General  Grant  halted  his  army  to  wait 
for  wagons,  supplies,  and  Sherman's  corps,  and  went  back  to 
Grand  Gulf  in-  person,  to  move  the  depot  of  supplies  to  that 
point. 

"Sherman  reached  Young's  Point  on  the  night  of  May  ist. 
On  the  following  morning,  the  second  division,  now  com- 
manded by  General  Blair,  moved  up  to  Milliken's  Bend  to  gar- 
rison that  place  until  relieved  by  troops  ordered  from  Mem- 
phis for  that  purpose;  and  at  the  same  time,  General  Sher- 
man himself,  with  Steele's  and  Tuttle's  divisions,  took  up 
the  line  of  march  to  join  General  Grant.  They  reached  Hard 
Times  at  noon  on  the  6th,  crossed  the  Mississippi  to  Grand 
Gulf  during  the  night  and  the  following  day,  and  on  the  8th 
marched  eighteen  miles  to  Hankinson's  Ferry,  relieving 
Crocker's  division  and  enabling  it  to  join  McPherson's  corps. 
General  Grant's  orders  for  a  general  advance  had  been 
issued  the  day  previous,  and  the  movement  had  already  be- 
gun. McPherson  was  to  take  the  right-hand  road  by  Rocky 
Springs  and  Utica  to  Raymond,  and  thence  to  Jackson;  Mc- 
Clernand,  the  left-hand  road,  through  Willow  Springs,  keep 
ing  as  near  the  Black  River  as  possible;  Sherman  to  move  on 
Edwards'  Station,  and  both  he  and  McClernand  to  strike 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  IQI 

the  railroad  beween  Edwards'  Station  and  Bolton.  At  noon 
on  the  loth,  Sherman  destroyed  the  floating  bridge  over  the 
Big  Black  and  marched  to  Big  Sandy;  on  the  i  ith  he  reached 
Auburn,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  I2th  encountered  and 
dispersed  a  small  force  of  the  enemy  endeavoring  to  obstruct 
the  crossing  of  Fourteen  Mile  Creek.  Pausing  for  the  pioneers, 
to  make  a  new  crossing  in  lieu  of  a  bridge  burned  by  the 
enemy's  rear-guard,  toward  evening  Sherman  met  General 
Grant  on  the  other  side  of  Fourteen  Mile  Creek,  and  was 
ordered  to  encamp  there,  Steele's  division  toward  Edwards' 
Depot  and  Tuttle's  toward  Raymond.  During  the  night, 
news  was  received  that  McPherson,  with  the  Seventeenth 
Corps,  had  the  same  day  met  and  defeated  two  brigades  of 
the  enemy  at  Raymond,  and  that  the  enemy  had  retreated 
upon  Jackson,  where  reinforcements  were  constantly  arriving, 
and  where  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  hourly  expected  to 
take  personal  command. 

"Determining  to  make  sure  of  Jackson,  and  to  leave  no 
enemy  in  his  rear,  if  it  could  be  avoided,  General  Grant  at 
once  changed  his  orders  to  McClernand  and  Sherman,  and 
directed  them  to  march  upon  Raymond.  On  the  I3th  Mc- 
Pherson moved  to  Clinton,  Sherman  to  a  parallel  position  at 
Mississippi  Springs,  and  McClernand  to  a  point  near  Ray- 
mond. Having  communicated  during  the  night,  so  as  to 
reach  their  destination  at  the  same  hour,  on  the  I4th,  Sher- 
man and  McPherson  marched  fourteen  miles,  and  at  noon 
engaged  the  enemy  near  Jackson.  At  this  time  McClernand 
occupied  Clinton,  Mississippi  Springs,  and  Raymond,  each 
with  one  division,  and  had  Blair's  division  of  Sherman's  corps 
near  New  Auburn,  and  had  halted,  according  to  orders,  with- 
in supporting  distance.  The  enemy  marched  out  with  the 
bulk  of  his  forces  on  the  Clinton  road  and  engaged  McPher- 
son's  corps  about  two  and  a  half  miles  from  Jackson,  while 


IQ2  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

a  small  force  of  artillery  and  infantry  took  a  strong  position 
in  front  of  Sherman,  about  the  same  distance  from  the  city, 
on  the  Mississippi  Springs  road,  and  endeavored  by  unusual 
activity,  aided  by  the  nature  of  the  ground,  to  create  the 
appearance  of  great  strength,  so  as  to  delay  Sherman's  ad- 
vance until  the  contest  with  McPherson  should  be  decided. 

"During  the  day  it  rained  in  torrents,  and  the  roads,  which 
had  been  very  dusty,  became  equally  muddy,  while  the  troops 
pushed  on,  and  about  10  A.  M.  were  within  three  miles  of 
Jackson.  Then  were  heard  guns  of  McPherson  to  the  left,  and 
the  cavalry  advance  reported  an  enemy  in  front,  at  a  small 
bridge  at  the  foot  of  the  ridge  along  which  the  road  led. 

"The  enemy  opened  briskly  with  a  battery.  Hastily  recon- 
noitering  the  position,  Sherman  ordered  Mower's  and  Mat- 
thie's,  formerly  Woods',  brigades  of  Tuttle's  division,  to  de- 
ploy forward  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  road,  and  Buckland's 
to  close  up.  Waterhouse's  and  Spohre's  batteries  were  placed 
on  commanding  ground  and  soon  silenced  the  enemy's  guns, 
when  he  retired  about  half  a  mile  into  the  skirt  of  woods  in 
front  of  the  intrenchments  at  Jackson.  Mower's  brigade 
followed  him  up,  and  he  soon  took  refuge  behind  the  in- 
trenchments. 

"The  stream,  owing  to  its  precipitous  banks,  could  only  be 
passed  on  the  bridge,  which  the  enemy  did  not  attempt  to 
destroy,  and  forming  the  troops  in  similar  order  beyond  the 
bridge,  only  that  Mower's  brigade,  from  the  course  he  took  in 
following  the  enemy,  occupied  the  ground  to  the  left  of  the 
road,  and  Matthie's  brigade  to  the  right,  the  two  batteries  in 
the  center,  and  Buckland's  brigade  in  reserve. 

"As  the  troops  emerged  from  the  woods  in  their  front,  and 
as  far  to  their  left  as  they  could  see,  appeared  a  line  of  in- 
trenchments, and  the  enemy  kept  up  a  brisk  fire  with  artillery 
from  the  points  that  enfiladed  the  road.  In  order  to  ascer- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  193 

tain  the  nature  of  the  flanks  of  this  line  of  intrenchments, 
Sherman  directed  Captain  Pitzman,  acting  engineer,  to  take 
the  Ninety-fifth  Ohio,  and  make  a  detour  to  the  right,  to  see 
what  was  there.  While  he  was  gone  Steele's  division  was 
closed  up.  About  one  P.  M.  Captain  Pitzman  returned  re- 
porting that  he  found  the  enemy's  intrenchments  abandoned 
at  the  point  where  he  crossed  the  railroad,  and  had  left  the 
Ninety-fifth  Ohio  there  in  possession.  Sherman  at  once  or- 
dered General  Steele  to  lead  his  whole  division  into  Jackson 
by  that  route,  and  as  soon  as  the  cheers  of  his  men  were 
heard,  Tuttle's  division  was  ordered  in  by  the  main  road. 
The  enemy's  infantry  had  escaped  to  the  north  by  the  Can- 
ton road,  but  we  captured  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  pris- 
oners, with  all  the  enemy's  artillery  (eighteen  guns),  and  much 
ammunition  and  valuable  public  stores.  Meanwhile,  after  a 
warm  engagement,  lasting  more  than  two  hours,  McPherson 
had  badly  defeated  the  main  body  of  the  enemy,  and  driven 
it  north.  The  pursuit  was  kept  up  until  nearly  dark. 

"Disposing  the  troops  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  in  obe- 
dience to  a  summons  from  General  Grant,  Sherman  met  him 
and  General  McPherson  near  the  State-house,  and  received 
orders  to  occupy  the  line  of  rifle-pits,  and  on  the  following 
day  to  destroy  effectually  the  railroad  tracks  in  and  about 
Jackson,  and  all  the  property  belonging  to  the  enemy.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  morning  of  the  i$th  of  May,  Steele's  divis- 
ion was  set  to  work  to  destroy  the  railroad  and  property  to 
the  south  and  east,  including  Pearl  River  Bridge,  and  Tut- 
tle's division  to  the  north  and  west.  The  railroads  were  de- 
stroyed by  burning  the  ties  and  warping  the  iron  for  a  dis- 
tance of  four  miles  east  of  Jackson,  three  south,  three  north, 
and  ten  west. 

The  next  few  days  were  spent  in  making  the  investment  of 
Vicksburg  complete,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  I9th  of  May 
13 


194  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

General  Grant  had  ordered  a  general  assault  to  be  made. 
At  2  o'clock  that  day  the  fight  commenced,  and  almost  the 
entire  army  was  engaged.  But  the  enemy  was  so  strongly 
intrenched  that  our  men  were  repulsed  with  great  loss.  One 
incident  connected  with  this  assault  is  worthy  of  record  in 
the  words  of  General  Sherman,  who  in  this  case  received 
proof  of  the  correctness  of  his  opinion  when  he  wrote  the 
warning  letter  to  General  Grant.  He  says: 

"After  our  men  had  fairly  been  beaten  back  from  off  the  par- 
apet, and  had  got  cover  behind  the  spurs  of  ground  close  up  to 
the  Rebel  works,  General  Grant  came  to  where  I  was,  on  foot, 
having  left  his  horse  some  distance  to  the  rear.  I  pointed 
out  to  him  the  Rebel  works,  admitted  that  my  assault  had 
failed,  and  he  said  the  result  with  McPherson  and  McCler- 
nand  was  about  the  same.  While  he  was  with  me,  an  or- 
derly or  staff-officer  came  and  handed  him  a  piece  of  paper, 
which  he  read  and  handed  to  me.  I  think  the  writing  was 
in  pencil,  on  a  loose  piece  of  paper,  and  was  in  General  Mc- 
Clernand's  handwriting,  to  the  effect  that  'his  troops  had 
captured  the  rebel  parapet  in  his  front,'  that  'the  flag  of  the 
Union  waved  over  the  stronghold  of  Vicksburg',  and  asking 
him  (General  Grant)  to  give  renewed  orders  to  McPherson 
and  Sherman  to  press  their  attacks  on  their  respective  fronts, 
lest  the  enemy  should  concentrate  on  him  (McClernand). 
General  Grant  said,  'I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it;'  but  I 
reasoned  with  him,  that  this  note  was  official,  and  must  be 
credited,  and  I  offered  to  renew  the  assault  at  once  with  new 
troops.  He  said  he  would  instantly  ride  down  the  line  to 
McClernand' s  front,  and  if  I  did  not  receive  orders  to  the 
contrary,  by  3  o'clock  p.  M.,  I  might  try  it  again.  Mower's 
fresh  brigade  was  brought  up  under  cover,  and  some  changes 
were  made  in  Giles  Smith's  brigade;  and,  punctually  at  3  p. 
M.  ,  hearing  heavy  firing  down  along  the  line  to  my  left,  I 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  1 95 

ordered  the  second  assault.  It  was  a  repetition  of  the  first, 
equally  unsuccessful  and  bloody.  It  also  transpired  that  the 
same  thing  had  occurred  with  General  McPherson,  who  lost 
in  this  second  assault  some  most  valuable  officers  and  men 
without  adequate  result;  and  that  General  McClernand,  in- 
stead of  having  taken  any  single  point  of  the  Rebel  main  par- 
apet, had  only  taken  one  or  two  small  outlying  lunettes 
open  to  the  rear,  where  his  men  were  at  the  mercy  of  the 
Rebels  behind  their  main  parapet,  and  most  of  them  were 
actually  thus  captured.  This  affair  caused  great  feeling  with 
us,  and  severe  criticisms  on  General  McClernand,  which  led 
finally  to  his  removal  from  the  command  of  the  Thirteenth 
Corps,  to  which  General  Ord  succeeded.  The  immediate 
cause,  however,  of  General  McClernand' s  removal  was  the 
publication  of  a  sort  of  congratulatory  order  addressed  to  his 
troops,  first  published  in  St.  Louis,  in  which  he  claimed  that 
he  had  actually  succeeded  in  making  a  lodgment Jfl  Vicks- 
burg,  but  had  lost  it,  owing  to  the  fact  that  McPherson  and 
Sherman  did  not  fulfill  their  parts  of  the  general  plan  of 
attack.  This  was  simply  untrue.  The  two  several  assaults 
made  May  22d,  on  the  lines  of  Vicksburg,  had  failed,  by 
reason  of  the  great  strength  of  the  position  and  the  deter- 
mined fighting  of  its  garrison.  I  have  since  seen  the  position 
at  Sevastopol,  and  without  hesitation  I  declare  that  at  Vicks- 
burg to  have  been  the  more  difficult  of  the  two." 

It  was  now  determined  to  make  a  regular  siege,  and  the 
soldiers  entered  heartily  into  the  work  of  approaching  the 
enemy  by  trenches.  This  was  no  easy  task  to  men  unaccus- 
tomed to  the  heat  of  this  section.  On  the  evening  of  July  3d, 
the  sappers  were  close  to  the  enemy's  works.  The  next  day 
the  enemy  celebrated  the  national  birthday  by  surrendering 
the  city  they  had  held  at  so  much  cost.  General  Grant  in 
his  report  of  the  siege,  dated  July  6th,  says: 


196  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

"Johnston,  however,  not  attacking,  I  determined  to  attack 
him  the  moment  Vicksburg  was  in  our  possession,  and  ac- 
cordingly notified  Sherman  that  I  should  again  make  an 
assault  on  Vicksburg  at  daylight  on  the  6th,  and  for  him  to 
have  up  supplies  of  all  descriptions  ready  to  move  upon 
receipt  of  orders,  if  the  assault  should  prove  a  success.  His 
preparations  were  immediately  made,  and  when  the  place 
surrendered  on  the  4th,  two  days  earlier  than  I  had  fixed 
for  the  attack,  Sherman  was  found  ready,  and  moved  at  once 
with  a  force  increased  by  the  remainder  of  both  the  Thirteenth 
and  Fifteenth  Army  corps,  and  is  at  present  investing  Jack- 
son, where  Johnston  has  made  a  stand." 

After  toiling  two  months  in  the  stifling  trenches,  without 
pausing  to  share  the  joy  for  the  national  triumph  which 
crowned  their  work,  Sherman's  men  marched  fifty  miles  in  the 
heat  through  a  country  almost  destitute  of  water,  to  meet 
the  enemy. 

The  advance  of  his  troops  appeared  before  the  enemy's 
works  in  front  of  Jackson  on  the  9th  of  July,  and  on  the 
1 2th  had  invested  that  place,  until  both  flanks  rested  upon 
Pearl  River.  Constant  skirmishing  was  kept  up  in  front, 
while  a  cavalry  expedition  was  sent  off  to  the  east  to  destroy 
the  railroads,  until  the  night  of  the  i6th  of  July.  Sherman 
had  all  his  artillery  in  position,  and  an  ammunition  train  had 
arrived  during  the  day.  Learning  this,  and  perceiving  the 
impossibility  of  longer  maintaining  his  position,  Johnston 
marched  out  of  Jackson,  and  destroyed  the  floating  bridges 
over  the  Pearl  River.  Early  on  the  i/th,  the  evacuation 
was  discovered,  and  Sherman's  troops  entered  the  city. 
Johnston  continued  the  retreat  to  Morton,  thirty-five  miles 
east  of  Jackson.  Two  divisions  of  our  troops  followed  as  far 
as  Brandon,  through  which  place  they  drove  the  enemy's 
cavalry  on  the  I9th.  General  Sherman  at  once  sent  out 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  1 97 

expeditions  in  all  quarters  to  thoroughly  destroy  all  the  bridges, 
culverts,  embankments,  water-tanks,  rails,  ties,  and  roll- 
ing-stock of  the  railways  centering  in  Jackson.  Sherman  re- 
turned to  the  line  of  the  Big  Black,  to  recuperate. 

Of  Sherman's  part  in  the  campaign  General  Grant  says: 
"The  siege  of  Vicksburg  and  last  capture  of  Jackson  and 
dispersion  of  Johnston's  army  entitle  General  Sherman  to 
more  credit  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  one  man  to  earn. 
His  demonstration  at  Haines'  Bluff,  in  April,  to  hold  the 
enemy  about  Vicksburg,  while  the  army  was  securing  a  foot- 
hold east  of  the  Mississippi;  his  rapid  marches  to  join  the 
army  afterward;  his  management  at  Jackson,  Mississippi,  in 
the  first  attack;  his  almost  unequaled  march  from  Jackson 
to  Bridgeport,  and  passage  of  Black  River;  his  securing 
Walnut  Hills  on  the  i8th  of  May,  attest  his  great  merit  as 
a  soldier." 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  valor  of  the  army  in 
this  campaign.  Despite  discouragements  and  the  unaccus- 
tomed climate,  the  rank  and  file  had  endured  hardships  with- 
out a  murmur.  As  to  the  credit  for  the  inception  and  comple- 
tion of  the  plan  of  campaign,  General  Sherman  left  no  possi- 
bility of  doubt  of  his  opinion. 

The  campaign  of  Vicksburg,  in  its  conception  and  execu- 
ion,  belonged  exclusively  to  General  Grant,  not  only  in  the 
great  whole,  but  in  the  thousands  of  its  details.  I  still  retain 
many  of  his  letters  and  notes,  all  in  his  own  handwriting, 
prescribing  the  routes  of  march  for  divisions  and  detachments, 
specifying  even  the  amount  of  food  and  tools  to  be  carried 
along.  Many  persons  gave  his  Adjutant-General,  Rawlins, 
the  credit  for  these  things,  but  they  were  in  error;  for  no 
commanding  general  of  an  army  ever  gave  more  of  his  per- 
sonal attention  to  details,  or  wrote  so  many  of  his  own  orders, 
reports,  and  letters,  as  General  Grant.  His  success  at  Vicks- 


198  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

burg  justly  gave  him  great  fame  at  home  and  abroad.  The 
President  conferred  on  him  the  rank  of  Major-General  in  the 
regular  army,  the  highest  grade  then  existing  by  law;  and 
General  McPherson  and  I  shared  in  his  success  by  receiving 
similar  commissions  as  Brigadier-Generals  in  the  regular 
army." 

These  were  the  words  of  a  commander  who  had  disproved 
the  charge  that  he  was  crazy  and  who  now  claims  for  himself 
only  the  credit  of  having  done  his  duty  as  a  soldier.  It  would 
have  been  better  for  the  country  had  other  Generals  evinced 
the  same  degree  of  unselfish  devotion. 

For  some  reason  there  was  no  further  advance.  The 
enemy's  country  had  been  cut  in  twain.  The  Mississippi 
river  no  longer  stood  as  a  dividing  line  between  two  sections 
of  the  country.  It  was  open  to  the  Federal  army  and  the 
people  of  the  North,  but  was  practically  closed  to  the  South. 
As  bearing  upon  subsequent  events  and,  revealing  the  state 
of  public  feeling  at  the  time,  the  following  correspondence  is 
suggestive: 

[PRIVATE.] 

"WASHINGTON,  August  29,  1863: 
"Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

"Mv  DEAR  GENERAL:  The  question  of  reconstruction  in 
Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Arkansas,  will  soon  come  up  for 
decision  of  the  Government,  and  not  only  the  length  of  the 
war,  but  our  ultimate  and  complete  success  will  depend 
upon  its  decision.  It  is  a  difficult  matter,  but  I  believe  it 
can  be  successfully  solved,  if  the  President  will  consult  opin- 
ions of  cool  and  discreet  men,  who  are  capable  of  looking  at 
it  in  all  its  bearings  and  effects.  I  think  he  is  disposed  to 
receive  the  advice  of  our  generals  who  have  been  in  these 
states,  and  know  much  more  of  their  condition  than  gassy 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  199 

politicians  in  Congress.  General  Banks  has  written  pretty 
fully  on  the  subject.  I  wrote  to  General  Grant,  immediately 
after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  for  his  views  in  regard  to  Missis- 
sippi, but  he  has  not  yet  answered. 

"I  wish  you  would  consult  with  Grant,  McPherson,  and 
others  of  cool  good  judgment,  and  write  me  your  views  fully,  as 
I  may  wish  to  use  them  with  the  President.  You  had  better 
write  me  unofficially,  and  then  your  letter  will  not  be  put  on 
file,  and  cannot  hereafter  be  used  against  you.  You  have 
been  in  Washington  enough  to  know  how  every  thing  a  man 
writes  or  says  is  picked  up  by  his  enemies  and  misconstrued. 
With  kind  wishes  for  your  further  succses, 

"I  am  yours  truly, 

"H.  W.  HALLECK." 

[PRIVATE    AND    CONFIDENTIAL.] 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  ) 
CAMP  ON  BIG  BLACK,  MISSISSIPPI,  September  17,  1863.  ( 

"H.  W.  HALLECK  Commander -in-Chief,   Washington,  D.  C. 

"DEAR  GENERAL:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  August 
29th  and  with  pleasure  confide  to  you  fully  my  thoughts  on 
the  important  matters  you  suggest,  with  absolute  confidence 
that  you  will  use  what  is  valuable,  and  reject  the  useless 
or  superfluous.  That  part  of  the  continent  of  North  America 
known  as  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Arkansas,  is  in  my 
judgment  the  key  to  the  whole  interior.  The  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  is  America,  and,  although  railroads  have  changed 
the  economy  of  intercommunication,  yet  the  water-channels 
still  mark  the  lines  of  fertile  land,  and  afford  cheap  carriage 
to  the  heavy  products  of  it. 

"The  inhabitants  of  the  country  on  the  Monongahela,  the 
Illinois,  the  Minnesota,  the  Yellowstone,  and  Osage,  are  as 
directly  concerned  in  the  security  of  the  Lower  Mississippi  as 


2OO  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

are  those  who  dwell  on  its  very  banks  in  Louisiana;  and  now 
that  the  nation  has  recovered  its  possession,  this  generation 
of  men  will  make  a  fearful  mistake  if  they  again  commit  its 
charge  to  a  people  liable  to  misuse  their  position,  and  assert, 
as  was  recently  done,  that,  because  they  dwelt  on  the  banks 
of  this  mighty  stream,  they  had  a  right  to  control  its  naviga- 
tion. 

"I  would  deem  it  very  unwise  at  this  time,  or  for  years  to 
come,  to  revive  the  State  governments  of  Louisiana,  etc.,  or 
to  institute  in  this  quarter  any  civil  government  in  which  the 
local  people  have  much  to  say.  They  had  a  government  so 
mild  and  paternal  that  they  gradually  forgot  they  had  any  at 
all,  save  what  they  themselves  controlled;  they  asserted  an 
absolute  right  to  seize  public  moneys,  forts,  arms,  and  even 
to  shut  up  the  natural  avenues  of  travel  and  commerce.  They 
chose  war — they  ignored  and  denied  all  the  obligations  of  the 
solemn  contract  of  government  and  appealed  to  force. 

"We  accepted  the  issue,  and  now  they  begin  to  realize  that 
war  is  a  two-edged  sword,  and  it  may  be  that  many  of  the 
inhabitants  cry  for  peace.  I  know  them  well,  and  the  very 
impulses  of  their  nature;  and  to  deal  with  the  inhabitants  of 
that  part  of  the  South  which  borders  on  the  great  river,  we 
must  recognize  the  classes  into  which  they  have  divided 
themsleves: 

"i.  The  large  planters,  owning  lands,  slaves,  and  all  kin  Js 
of  personal  property:  These  are,  on  the  whole,  the  ruling 
class.  They  are  educated,  wealthy,  and  easily  approached. 
In  some  districts  they  are  bitter  as  gall,  and  have  given  up 
slaves,  plantations,  and  all,  serving  in  the  armies  of  the  Con- 
federacy; whereas,  in  others,  they  are  conservative.  None 
dare  admit  a  friendship  for  us,  though  they  say  freely  that 
they  were  at  the  outset  opposed  to  war  and  disunion.  I 
know  we  can  manage  this  class,  but  only  by  action.  Argu- 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN  2OI 

ment  is  exhausted,  and  words  have  lost  their  usual  meaning. 
Nothing  but  the  logic  of  events  touches  their  understanding; 
but,  of  late,  this  has  worked  a  wonderful  change.  If  our 
country  were  like  Europe,  crowded  with  people,  I  would 
say  it  would  be  easier  to  please  this  class  than  to  reconstruct 
it,  subordinate  to  the  policy  of  the  nation;  but,  as  this  is  not 
the  case,  it  is  better  to  allow  the  planters,  with  individual  ex- 
ceptions, gradually  to  recover  their  plantations,  to  hire  any 
species  of  labor,  and  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  order 
of  things.  Still,  their  friendship  and  assistance  to  recon- 
struct order  out  of  the  present  ruin  cannot  be  depended  on. 
They  watch  the  operations  of  our  armies,  and  hope  still  for  a 
Southern  Confederacy  that  will  restore  to  them  the  slaves  and 
privileges  which  they  feel  are  otherwise  lost  forever.  In  my 
judgment,  we  have  two  more  battles  to  win  before  we  should 
even  bother  our  minds  with  the  idea  of  restoring  civil  order — 
viz.,  one  near  Meridian,  in  November,  and  one  near  Shreve- 
port,  in  February  and  March  next,  when  Red  River  is  navi- 
gable by  our  gunboats.  When  these  are  done,  then,  and 
not  until  then,  will  the  planters  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and 
Mississippi,  submit.  Slavery  is  already  gone,  and,  to  culti- 
vate the  land,  negro  or  other  labor  must  be  hired.  This,  of 
itself,  is  a  vast  revolution,  and  time  must  be  afforded  to  al- 
low men  to  adjust  their  minds  and  habits  to  this  new  order 
of  things.  The  civil  government  of  the  representative  type 
would  suit  this  class  far  less  than  a  pure  military  rule, 
readily  adapting  itself  to  actual  occurrences,  and  able  to  en- 
force its  laws  and  orders  promptly  and  emphatically. 

"2.  The  smaller  farmers,  mechanics,  merchants,  and  labor- 
ers: This  class  will  probably  number  three-quarters  of  the 
whole;  have,  in  fact,  no  real  interest  in  the  establishment 
of  a  Southern  Confederacy,  and  have  been  led  or  driven  into 
war  on  the  false  theory  that  they  were  to  be  benefited  some- 


2O2  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

how — they  knew  not  how.  They  are  essentially  tired  of  the 
war,  and  would  slink  back  home  if  they  could.  These  are 
the  real  tiers  etat  of  the  South,  and  are  hardly  worthy  a 
thought;  for  they  swerve  to  and  fro  according  to  events 
which  they  do  not  comprehend  or  attempt  to  shape. 
When  the  time  for  reconstruction  comes,  they  will  want 
the  old  political  system  of  caucuses,  legislatures,  etc.,  to 
amuse  themselves  and  make  them  believe  they  are  real  sov- 
ereigns; but  in  all  things  they  will  follow  blindly  the  lead 
of  the  planters.  The  Southern  politicians,  who  understand 
this  class,  use  them  as  the  French  do  their  masses — seem- 
ingly consult  their  prejudices,  while  they  make  their  orders 
and  enforce  them.  We  should  do  the  same. 

"3.  The  Union  men  of  the  South:  I  must  confess  I  have 
little  respect  for  this  class.  They  allowed  a  clamorous  set 
of  demagogues  to  muzzle  and  drive  them  as  a  pack  of  curs. 
Afraid  of  shadows,  they  submit  tamely  to  squads  of  dragoons, 
and  permit  them,  without  a  murmur,  to  burn  their  cotton, 
take  their  horses,  corn,  and  everything;  and,  when  we  reach 
them,  they  .are  full  of  complaints  if  our  men  take  a  few 
fence-rails  for  fire,  or  corn  to  feed  our  horses.  They  give  us 
no  assistance  or  information,  and  are  loudest  in  their  com- 
plaints at  the  smallest  excesses  of  our  soldiers.  Their  sons, 
horses,  arms,  and  everything  useful  are  in  the  army  against 
us,  and  they  stay  at  home,  claiming  all  the  exemptions  of 
peaceful  citizens.  I  account  them  as  nothing  in  this  great 
game  of  war. 

"4.  The  young  bloods  of  the  South:  sons  of  planters,  law- 
yers about  towns,  good  billiard-players  and  sportsmen,  men 
who  never  did  work  and  never  will.  War  suits  them,  and  the 
rascals  are  brave,  fine  riders,  bold  to  rashness,  and  dangerous 
subjects  in  every  sense.  They  care  not  a  sou  for  niggers, 
land,  or  anything.  They  hate  Yankees  per  se,  and  don't 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  2O3 

bother  their  brains  about  the  past,  present,  or  future.  As 
long  as  they  have  good  horses,  plenty  of  forage,  and  an  open 
country,  they  are  happy.  This  is  a  larger  class  than  most 
men  suppose,  and  they  are  the  most  dangerous  set  of  men 
that  this  war  has  turned  loose  upon  the  world.  They  are 
splendid  riders,  first-rate  shots,  and  utterly  reckless.  Stew- 
art, John  Morgan,  Forrest,  and  Jackson  are  the  types  and 
leaders  of  this  class.  These  men  must  all  be  killed  or  em- 
ployed by  us  before  we  can  hope  for  peace.  They  have  no 
property  or  future,  and  therefore  cannot  be  influenced  by  any- 
thing, except  personal  considerations.  I  have  two  brigades 
of  these  fellows  in  my  front,  commanded  by  Cosby,  of  the 
old  army,  and  Whitfield,  of  Texas.  Stephen  D.  Lee  is  in 
command  of  the  whole.  I  have  frequent  interviews  with 
their  officers,  a  good  understanding  with  them,  and  am  in- 
clined to  think,  when  the  resources  of  their  country  are  ex- 
hausted, we  must  employ  them.  They  are  the  best  cavalry 
in  the  world,  but  it  will  tax  Mr.  Chase's  genius  for  finances 
to  supply  them  with  horses.  At  present  horses  cost  them 
nothing;  for  they  take  where  they  find,  and  don't  bother 
their  brains  as  to  who  is  to  pay  for  them;  the  same  may  be 
said  of  the  cornfields,  which  have,  as  they  believe,  been  cul- 
tivated by  a  good-natured  people  for  their  special  benefit. 
We  propose  to  share  with  them  the  free  use  of  these  corn- 
fields, planted  by  willing  hands  that  will  never  gather  the 
crops. 

"Now  that  I  have  sketched  the  people  who  inhabit  the  dis- 
trict of  country  under  consideration,  I  will  proceed  to 
discuss  the  future. 

"A  civil  government  now,  for  any  part  of  it,  would  be  sim- 
ply ridiculous.  The  people  would  not  regard  it,  and  even 
the  military  commanders  of  the  antagonistic  parties  would 
treat  it  lightly.  Governors  would  be  simply  petitioners  for 


204  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

military  assistance,  to  protect  supposed  friendly  interests,  and 
military  commanders  would  refuse  to  disperse  and  weaken 
their  armies  for  military  reasons.  Jealousies  would  arise 
between  the  two  conflicting  powers,  and,  instead  of  contrib- 
uting to  the  end  of  the  war,  would  actually  defer  it.  There- 
fore, I  contend  that  the  interests  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  real  parties  concerned,  demand  the  continuance  of 
the  simple  military  rule,  till  after  all  the  organized  armies  of 
the  South  are  dispersed,  conquered,  and  subjugated. 

"The  people  of  all  this  region  are  represented  in  the  Army 
of  Virginia,  at  Charleston,  Mobile  and  Chattanooga.  They 
have  sons  and  relations  in  each  of  the  rebel  armies,  and 
naturally  are  interested  in  their  fate.  Though  we  hold  mili- 
tary possession  of  the  key-points  of  their  country,  still  they 
contend,  and  naturally,  that  should  Lee  succeed  in  Virginia, 
or  Bragg  at  Chattanooga,  a  change  will  occur  here  also. 
We  cannot  for  this  reason  attempt  to  reconstruct  parts  of 
the  South  as  we  conquer  it,  till  all  idea  of  the  establishment 
of  a  Southern  Confederacy  is  abandoned.  We  should  avail 
ourselves  of  the  present  lull  to  secure  the  strategical  points 
that  will  give  us  an  advantage  in  the  future  military  move- 
ments, and  we  should  treat  the  idea  of  civil  government  as 
one  in  which  we  as  a  nation  have  a  minor  or  subordinate 
interest.  The  opportunity  is  good  to  impress  on  the  popu- 
lation the  truth  that  they  are  more  interested  in  civil  govern- 
ment than  we  are;  and  that,  to  enjoy  the  protection  of  laws, 
they  must  not  be  passive  observers  of  events,  but  must  aid  and 
sustain  the  constituted  authorities  in  enforcing  the  laws;  they 
must  not  only  submit  themselves,  but  should  pay  their  share 
of  taxes,  and  render  personal  services  when  called  on. 

"It  seems  to  me,  in  contemplating  the  history  of  the  past 
two  years,  that  all  the  people  of  our  country,  North,  South, 
East  and  West,  have  been  undergoing  a  salutary  political 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  2O$ 

schooling,  learning  lessons  which  might  have  been  acquired 
from  the  experience  of  other  people;  but  we  had  all  become 
so  wise  in  our  own  conceit  that  we  would  only  learn  by  actual 
experience  of  our  own.  The  people  even  of  small  and  un- 
important localities,  North  as  well  as  South,  had  reasoned 
themselves  into  the  belief  that  their  opinions  were  superior 
to  the  aggregated  interest  of  the  whole  nation.  Half  our 
territorial  nation  rebelled,  on  a  doctrine  of  secession  that 
they  themeslves  now  scout;  and  a  real  numerical  majority 
actually  believed  that  a  little  State  was  endowed  with  such 
sovereignty  that  it  could  defeat  the  policy  of  the  great  whole. 
I  think  the  present  war  has  exploded  that  notion,  and  were 
this  war  to  cease  now,  the  experience  gained,  though  dear, 
would  be  worth  the  expense. 

"Another  great  and  important  natural  truth  is  still  in  con- 
test, and  can  only  be  solved  by  war.  Numerical  majorities 
by  vote  have  been  our  great  arbiter.  Heretofore  all  men  have 
cheerfully  submitted  to  it  in  questions  left  open,  but  nu- 
merical majorities  are  not  necessarily  physical  majorities.  The 
South,  though  numerically  inferior,  contend  they  can  whip 
the  Northern  superiority  of  numbers,  and  therefore  by  natural 
law  they  contend  that  they  are  not  bound  to  submit.  This  issue 
is  the  only  real  one,  and  in  my  judgment  all  else  should  be 
deferred  to  it.  War  alone  can  decide  it,  and  it  is  the  only 
question  now  left  for  us  as  a  people  to  decide.  Can  we  whip 
the  South?  If  we  can,  our  numerical  majority  has  both  the 
natural  and  constitutional  right  to  govern  them.  If  we 
cannot  whip  them,  they  contend  for  the  natural  right  to  select 
their  own  government,  and  they  have  the  argument.  Our 
armies  must  prevail  over  theirs;  our  officers,  marshals,  and 
courts,  must  penetrate  into  the  innermost  recesses  of  their 
land,  before  we  have  the  natural  right  to  demand  their  sub- 
mission. 


2O6  LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"I  would  banish  all  minor  questions,  assert  the  broad  doc- 
trine that  as  a  nation  the  United  States  has  the  right,  and 
also  the  physical  power,  to  penetrate  to  every  part  of  our 
national  domain,  and  that  we  will  do  it — that  we  will  do  it 
in  our  own  time  and  in  our  own  way;  that  it  makes  no  dif- 
ference whether  it  be  in  one  year,  or  two,  or  ten,  or  twenty; 
that  we  will  remove  and  destroy  every  obstacle,  if  need  be, 
take  every  life,  every  acre  of  land,  every  particle  of  property, 
every  thing  that  to  us  seems  proper;  that  we  will  not  cease 
till  the  end  is  attained;  that  all  who  do  not  aid  us  are  ene- 
mies, and  that  we  will  not  account  to  them  for  our  acts.  If 
the  people  of  the  South  oppose,  they  do  so  at  their  peril; 
and  if  they  stand  by,  mere  lookers-on  in  this  domestic  tragedy, 
they  have  no  right  to  immunity,  protection,  or  share  in  the 
final  results. 

"I  even  believe  and  contend  further  that,  in  the  North,  every 
member  of  the  nation  is  bound  by  both  natural  and  constitu- 
tional law  to  'maintain  and  defend  the  Government  against 
all  its  enemies  and  opposers  whomsoever. '  If  they  fail  to 
do  it  they  are  derelict,  and  can  be  punished,  or  deprived  of 
all  advantages  arising  from  the  labors  of  those  who  do.  If  any 
man,  North  or  South,  withholds  his  share  of  taxes,  or  his 
physical  assistance  in  this,  the  crisis  of  our  history,  he  should 
be  deprived  of  all  voice  in  the  future  elections  of  this  country, 
and  might  be  banished,  or  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  mere 
denizen  of  the  land. 

"War  is  upon  us,  none  can  deny  it.  It  is  not  the  choice 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  but  of  a  faction; 
the  Government  was  forced  to  accept  the  issue,  or  to  submit 
to  a  degradation  fatal  and  disgraceful  to  all  the  inhabitants. 
In  accepting  war,  it  should  be  'pure  and  simple'  as  applied 
to  the  belligerents.  I  would  keep  it  so,  till  all  traces  of 
the  war  are  effaced;  till  those  who  appealed  to  it  are  sick 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  2O7 

and  tired  of  it,  and  come  to  the  emblem  of  our  nation,  and 
sue  for  peace.  I  would  not  coax  them,  or  even  meet  them 
half-way,  but  make  them  so  sick  of  war  that  generations 
would  pass  away  before  they  would  again  appeal  to  it. 

"I  know  what  I  say  when  I  repeat  that  the  insurgents  of  the 
South  sneer  at  all  overtures  looking  to  their  interests.  They 
scorn  the  alliance  with  the  Copperheads;  they  tell  me  to  my 
face  that  they  respect  Grant,  McPherson,  and  our  brave  as- 
sociates who  fight  manfully  and  well  for  a  principle,  but 
despise  the  Copperheads  and  sneaks  at  the  North,  who  pro- 
fess friendship  for  the  South  and  opposition  to  the  war,  as 
mere  covers  for  their  knavery  and  poltroonery. 

"God  knows  that  I  deplore  this  fratricidal  war  as  much  as 
any  man  living,  but  it  is  upon  us,  a  physical  fact;  and  there 
is  only  one  honorable  issue  from  it.  We  must  fight  it  out, 
army  against  army,  and  man  against  man;  and  I  know, 
and  you  know,  and  civilians  begin  to  realize  the  fact,  that 
reconciliation  and  reconstruction  will  be  easier  through  and 
by  means  of  strong,  well-equipped,  and  organized  armies 
than  through  any  species  of  conventions  that  can  be  framed. 
The  issues  are  made,  and  all  discussion  is  out  of  place  and 
ridiculous.  The  section  of  thirty-pounder  Parrott  rifles  now 
drilling  before  my  tent  is  a  more  convincing  argument 
than  the  largest  Democratic  meeting  the  State  of  New  York 
can  possibly  assemble  at  Albany;  and  a  simple  order  of  the 
War  Department  to  draft  enough  men  to  fill  our  skeleton 
regiments  would  be  more  convincing  as  to  our  national  per- 
petuity than  an  humble  pardon  to  Jeff.  Davis  and  all  his 
misled  host. 

"The  only  government  needed  or  deserved  by  the  States  of 
Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Mississippi,  now  exists  in  Grant's 
army.  This  needs,  simply,  enough  privates  to  fill  its  ranks; 
all  else  will  follow  in  due  season,  This  army  has  its  well- 


208  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

defined  code  of  laws  and  practice,  and  can  adapt  itself  to  the 
wants  and  necessities  of  a  city,  the  country,  the  rivers,  the 
sea,  indeed  to  all  parts  of  this  land.  It  better  subserves  the 
interest  and  policy  of  the  General  Government,  and  the  peo- 
ple here  prefer  it  to  any  weak  or  servile  combination  that 
would  at  once,  from  force  of  habit,  revive  and  perpetuate 
local  prejudices  and  passions.  The  people  of  this  country 
have  forfeited  all  right  to  a  voice  in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 
They  know  it  and  feel  it,  and  in  after-years  they  will  be  the 
better  citizens  from  the  dear-bought  experience  of  the  present 
crisis.  Let  them  learn  now,  and  learn  it  well,  that  good 
citizens  must  obey  as  well  as  command.  Obedience  to  law, 
absolute — yea,  even  abject — is  the  lesson  that  this  war,  under 
Providence,  will  teach  the  free  and  enlightened  American 
citizen.  As  a  nation,  we  shall  be  the  better  for  it. 

"I  never  have  apprehended  foreign  interference  in  our  fam- 
ily quarrel.  Of  coursee  governments  founded  on  a  different 
and  it  may  be  an  antagonistic  principle  with  ours  naturally  feel 
a  pleasure  at  our  complications,  and,  it  may  be,  wish  our  down- 
fall; but  in  the  end  England  and  France  will  join  with  us  in 
jubilation  at  the  triumph  of  constitutional  government  over 
faction.  Even  now  the  English  manifest  this.  I  do  not  profess 
to  understand  Napoleon's  design  in  Mexico,  and  I  do  not  sec 
that  this  taking  military  possession  of  Mexico  concerns  us. 
We  have  as  much  territory  now  as  we  want.  The  Mexicans 
have  failed  in  self-government,  and  it  was  a  question  as  to 
what  nation  she  should  fall  a  prey.  That  is  now  solved,  and 
I  don't  see  that  we  are  damaged.  We  have  the  finest  part 
of  the  North  American  continent,  all  we  can  people  and  take 
care  of;  and,  if  we  can  suppress  rebellion  in  our  own  land, 
and  compose  the  strife  generated  by  it,  we  shall  have  enough 
people,  resources,  and  wealth,  if  well  combined,  to  defy 
interference  from  any  and  every  quarter. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  2OQ 

"I  therefore  hope  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
will  continue,  as  heretofore,  to  collect,  in  well-organized 
armies,  the  physical  strength  of  the  nation;  applying  it,  as 
heretofore,  in  asserting  the  national  authority;  and  in  per- 
severing, without  relaxation,  to  the  end.  This,  whether  near 
or  far  off,  is  not  for  us  to  say;  but,  fortunately,  we  have  no 
choice.  We  must  succeed — no  other  choice  is  left  us  except 
degradation.  The  South  must  be  ruled  by  us,  or  she  will 
rule  us.  We  must  conquer  them,  or  ourselves  be  con- 
quered. There  is  no  middle  course.  They  ask  and  will 
have  nothing  else,  and  talk  of  compromise  is  bosh;  for  we 
know  they  would  even  scorn  the  offer. 

"I  wish  the  war  could  have  been  deferred  for  twenty  years, 
till  the  superabundant  population  of  the  North  could  flow  in 
and  replace  the  losses  sustained  by  war;  but  this  could  not 
be,  and  we  are  forced  to  take  things  as  they  are. 

"All  therefore  I  can  now  venture  to  advise  is  to  raise  the 
draft  to  its  maximum,  fill  the  present  regiments  to  as  large  a 
standard  as  possible,  and  push  the  war,  pure  and  simple. 
Great  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  discipline  of  our  armies, 
for  on  them  may  be  founded  the  future  stability  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

"The  cost  of  the  war  is,  of  course,  to  be  considered,  but 
finances  will  adjust  themselves  to  the  actual  state  of  affairs; 
and,  even  if  we  would,  we  could  not  change  the  cost.  Indeed, 
the  larger  the  cost  now,  the  less  will  it  be  in  the  end;  for  the 
end  must  be  attained  somehow,  regardless  of  loss  of  life  and 
treasure,  and  is  merely  a  question  of  time. 

"Excuse  so  long  a  letter.     With  great  respect,  etc., 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 

"That  this  letter  was  received  with  more  faith  than  had  been 
accorded  to  Sherman's  former  advice  regarding  the  troops 


2IO  LIFE   OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN, 

• 

needed  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  war  is  evidenced  from  the 
fact  that  Abraham  Lincoln  solicited  the  privilege  of  having  it 
published.  But  General  Sherman,  had  no  desire  for  a  news- 
paper controversy,  and  possibly  had  determined  to  give  no 
further  reason  for  the  history  makers  manufacturing  rumors 
regarding  his  sanity.  Read  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events 
it  points  to  serious  errors  made  by  men  who  believed  they 
were  acting  in  line  with  the  policy  marked  out  by  Lincoln. 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  ARMY  CORPS,  ) 
CAMP  ON  BIG  BLACK,  September  17,  1863.  ( 

"Brigadier-General  J.  A.  RAWLINS,  Acting-Assistant  Adju- 
tant-General, Vicksburg. 

"DEAR  GENERAL:  I  inclose  for  your  perusal,  and  for  you 
to  read  to  General  Grant  such  parts  as  you  deem  interesting, 
letters  received  by  me  from  Prof.  Mahan  and  General  Hal- 
leek,  with  my  answers.  After  you  have  read  my  answer  to 
General  Halleck,  I  beg  you  to  inclose  it  to  its  address,  and 
return  me  the  others. 

"I  think  Prof.  Mahan's  very  marked  encomium  upon  the 
campaign  of  Vicksburg  is  so  flattering  to  General  Grant,  that 
you  may  offer  to  let  him  keep  the  letter,  if  he  values  such 
a  testimonial.  I  have  never  written  a  word  to  General  Hal- 
leck since  my  report  of  last  December,  after  the  affair  at 
Chickasaw,  except  a  short  letter  a  few  days  ago  thanking 
him  for  the  kind  manner  of  his  transmitting  to  me  the  ap- 
pointment of  Brigadier-General.  I  know  that  in  Washington 
I  am  incomprehensible,  because  at  the  outset  of  the  war  I 
would  not  go  it  blind  and  rush  headlong  into  a  war  unpre- 
pared and  with  an  utter  ignorance  of  its  extent  and  purpose. 
I  was  then  construed  unsound,  and  now  that  I  insist  on  war 
pure  and  simple,  with  no  admixture  of  civil  compromises,  I 
am  supposed  vindictive.  You  remember  what  Polonius  said  to 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN  211 

his  son  Laertes:  'Beware  of  entrance  to  a  quarrel;  but,  being 
in,  bear  it,  that  the  opposed  may  beware  of  thee. '  What  is  true 
of  the  single  man,  is  equally  true  of  a  nation.  Our  leaders 
seemed  at  first  to  thirst  for  the  quarrel,  even  anxious  to  array 
against  us  all  possible  elements  of  opposition;  and  now,  being 
in,  they  would  hasten  to  quit  long  before  the  'opposed'  has 
received  that  lesson  which  he  needs.  I  would  make  this  war 
as  severe  as  possible,  and  show  no  symptoms  of  tiring  till 
the  South  begs  for  mercy;  indeed,  I  know,  and  you  know, 
that  the  end  would  be  reached  quicker  by  such  a  course  than 
by  any  seeming  yielding  on  our  part.  I  don't  want  our 
Government  to  be  bothered  by  patching  up  local  governments, 
or  by  trying  to  reconcile  any  class  of  men.  The  South  has 
done  her  worst,  and  now  is  the  time  for  us  to  pile  on  our 
blows  thick  and  fast. 

"Instead  of  postponing  the  draft  till  after  the  elections,  we 
ought  now  to  have  our  ranks  full  of  drafted  men;  and,  at  best, 
if  they  come  at  all,  they  will  reach  us  when  we  should  be  in 
motion. 

"I  think  General  Halleck  would  like  to  have  the  honest, 
candid  opinions  of  all  of  us,  viz.,  Grant,  McPherson,  and 
Sherman.  I  have  given  mine,  and  would  prefer,  of  course, 
that  it  should  coincide  with  the  others.  Still  no  matter  what 
my  opinion  may  be,  I  can  easily  adapt  my  conduct  to  the 
plan  of  others,  and  am  only  too  happy  when  I  find  theirs 
better  than  mine.  If  no  trouble,  please  show  Halleck' s  let- 
ter to  McPherson,  and  ask  him  to  write  also.  I  know  his  regi- 
ments are  like  mine  (mere  squads),  and  need  filling  up. 

"Yours  truly,         W.  T  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 


CHAPTER  X. 
RELIEF  OF  CHATTANOOGA. 

SERVICES  OF    SHERMAN  AND    HIS  COMMAND  IN    THE    RELIEF  OF 

ROSECRANS'  ARMY  WHEN  PENNED  AT  CHATTANOOGA 

— SIMPLE  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  WORK,   AND 

THANKS  FROM  CONGRESS. 

A  long  season  of  rest  followed  the  close  of  the  campaign 
against  Vicksburg  and  the  fall  of  Port  Hudson.  Grant's 
army  was  practically  disbanded.  Many  officers  secured 
leaves  of  absence  and  many  of  the  officers  had  their  families 
brought  to  camp.  Some  of  the  army  corps  were  stationed 
at  points  near  Vicksburg.  The  9th  (Parke's)  returned  to  Ken- 
tucky; Ord's  was  sent  down  to  Natchez,  and  Sherman's 
was  encamped  on  the  Big  Black  some  twenty  miles  from 
Vicksburg.  It  may  well  be  understood  that  the  soldiers  en- 
joyed the  rest  in  quiet  camps  after  so  long  and  wearing  a 
campaign.  They  were  allowed  frequent  opportunities  of  vis- 
iting Vicksburg  and  studying  the  place  they  had  invested  so 
long. 

An  incident  occurred  during  this  quiet  that  demonstrated 
the  inclination  of  men  calling  themselves  leaders  to  arrogate 
to  themselves  superior  wisdom  and  feelings  of  humanity. 
It  may  as  well  be  taken  as  an  object  lesson  for  those  states- 
men who  affect  a  better  understanding  of  matters  of  im- 
mediate importance  to  the  country  than  other  citizens  of  less 
wealth  and  prominence,  even  though  the  latter  may  have 
had  that  best  of  all  experiences  for  a  citizen — four  years  serv- 
ice in  the  war.  In  relating  this  incident  General  Sherman 

312 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

unconsciously  illustrates  his  superior  sagacity  and  compre- 
hension at  all  times  during  the  war  of  what  would  be  the 
natural  result  of  a  close  of  hostilities. 

"While  we  occupied  the  west  bank  of  the  Big  Black,  the 
east  bank  was  watched  by  a  Rebel  cavalry-division,  com- 
manded by  General  Armstrong.  He  had  four  brigades,  com- 
manded by  Generals  Whitfield,  Stark,  Cosby,  and  Wirt 
Adams.  Quite  frequently  they  communicated  with  us  by 
flags  of  truce  on  trivial  matters,  and  we  reciprocated,  merely 
to  observe  them.  One  day  a  flag  of  truce,  borne  by  a  Cap- 
tain B —  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  escorted  by  about  twenty- 
five  men,  was  reported  at  Messinger's  Ferry,  and  I  sent 
orders  to  let  them  come  right  into  my  tent.  This  brought 
them  through  the  camps  of  the  Fourth  Division,  and  part 
of  the  Second;  and  as  they  drew  up  in  front  of  my  tent,  I 
invited  Captain  B — (and  another  officer  with  him,  a  major 
from  Mobile),  to  dismount,  to  enter  my  tent,  and  to  make 
themselves  at  home.  Their  escort  was  sent  to  join  mine, 
with  orders  to  furnish  them  forage  and  everything  they  wanted. 
B —  had  brought  a  sealed  letter  for  General  Grant  at  Vicks- 
burg,  which  was  dispatched  to  him.  In  the  evening  we  had 
a  good  supper,  with  wine  and  cigars,  and,  as  we  sat  talking, 
B —  spoke  of  his  father  and  mother  in  Louisville,  got  leave 
to  write  them  a  long  letter  without  its  being  read  by  anyone, 
and  then  we  talked  about  the  war.  He  said:  'What  is  the 
use  of  your  persevering?  It  is  simply  impossible  to  subdue 
eight  millions  of  people;'  asserting  that  'the  feeling  in  the 
South  had  become  so  embittered  that  a  reconciliation  was 
impossible.'  I  answered  that,  'sitting  as  we  then  were,  we 
appeared  very  comfortable,  and  surely  there  was  no  trouble 
in  our  becoming  friends.'  'Yes,'  said  he,  'that  is  very  true 
of  us,  but  we  are  gentlemen  of  education,  and  can  easily 
adapt  ourselves  to  any  condition  of  things;  but  this  would  not 


214  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

apply  equally  well  to  the  common  people,  or  to  the  common 
soldiers. '  I  took  him  out  to  the  camp-fires  behind  the  tent, 
and  there  were  the  men  of  his  escort  and  mine  mingled  to- 
gether, drinking  their  coffee,  and  happy  as  soldiers  always 
seem.  I  asked  B —  what  he  thought  of  that,  and  he  ad- 
mitted that  I  had  the  best  of  the  argument.  Before  I  dis- 
missed this  flag  of  truce,  his  companion  consulted  me  confi- 
dentially as  to  what  disposition  he  ought  to  make  of  his  fam- 
ily, then  in  Mobile,  and  I  frankly  gave  him  the  best  advice 
I  could." 

But  the  quiet  of  camp  life  was  soon  rudely  broken,  and  we 
were  reminded  that  soldiers  could  look  forward  to  no  long 
seasons  of  comfort.  It  had  seemed  as  if  the  war  was  over 
as  far  as  our  work  was  concerned,  and  the  general  feeling  was 
that  the  other  armies  had  but  to  follow  our  example  and 
then  return  home.  But  it  was  only  because  we  had  as 
slight  a  conception  of  the  task  as  had  the  critics  who  only 
a  few  months  before  had  sneered  at  General  Sherman  be- 
cause he  could  not  accept  the  optimistic  views  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  State. 

General  Rosecrans  had  attempted  to  bag  Bragg' s  army  in 
Chattanooga.  But  Bragg  had  played  his  enemy  a  pretty 
trick,  by  withdrawing  his  army  from  the  city  and  then  driving 
Rosecrans  into  the  trap  and  holding  him  there.  It  appeared 
as  if  the  entire  army  under  Rosecrans  must  either  starve  or 
be  surrendered.  Troops  were  ordered  from  every  possible 
quarter  for  the  relief  of  the  beleaguered  army.  The  families 
of  the  officers  who.  had  come  South  for  a  visit  were  rapidly 
hurried  away,  and  active  preparations  made  for  operations 
that  would  include  the  entire  force.  General  Sherman  at 
this  time  experienced  a  loss  that  was  keenly  felt  by  those 
who  had  been  favored  with  constant  sight  of  the  bright  little 
face  of  "Sergeant"  Willie.  The  little  fellow  had  won  all 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  215 

hearts  by  his  winning  ways,  and  his  fondness  for  playing 
soldier.  At  every  part  of  the  camp  he  was  a  welcome  visitor, 
and  many  a  father  petted  him  as  a  relief  from  the  terrible 
feeling  of  loneliness.  Wlilie  was  taken  sick  on  the  way  to 
Memphis,  while  his  father  was  sending  the  family  North.  He 
died  at  the  Gayoso  House  shortly  after  their  arrival.  Gen- 
eral Sherman  was  sorely  afflicted,  but  he  was  a  soldier  and 
at  this  time  must  go  on  with  his  work,  leaving  to  the  other 
members  of  the  family  the  sad  duty  of  carrying  the  form  of 
little  Willie  to  their  home  in  Ohio.  In  the  letter  to  his  friend 
Captain  Smith,  General  Sherman  touchingly  tells  of  his  loss. 

"GAYOSO  HOUSE,  MEMPHIS,  TENNESSEE,  ) 
October  ^,  1863 — Midnight.      \ 

"Captain  C.    C.    SMITH,    commanding  Battalion   Thirteenth 
United  States  Regulars. 

"Mv  DEAR  FRIEND:  I  cannot  sleep  to-night  till  I  record  an 
expression  of  the  deep  feelings  of  my  heart  to  you,  and  to  the 
officers  and  soldiers  of  the  battalion,  for  their  kind  behavior  to 
my  poor  child.  I  realize  that  you  all  feel  for  my  family  the 
attachment  of  kindred,  and  I  assure  you  of  full  reciprocity. 

"Consistent  with  a  sense  of  duty  to  my  profession  and 
office,  I  could  not  leave  my  post,  and  sent  for  the  family  to 
come  to  me  in  that  fatal  climate,  and  in  that  sickly  period  of 
the  year;  and  behold  the  result!  The  child  that  bore  my 
name,  and  in  whose  future  I  reposed  with  more  confidence 
than  I  did  in  my  own  plan  of  life,  now  floats  a  mere  corpse, 
seeking  a  grave  in  a  distant  land,  with  a  weeping  mother, 
brother,  and  sisters,  clustered  about  him.  For  myself,  I 
ask  no  sympathy.  On,  on,  I  must  go,  to  meet  a  soldier's 
fate,  or  live  to  see  our  country  rise  superior  to  all  factions, 
till  its  flag  is  adored  and  respected  by  ourselves  and  by  all 
the  powers  of  the  earth. 


2l6  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

"But  Willie  was,  or  thought  he  was,  a  sergeant  in  the 
Thirteenth.  I  have  seen  his  eye  brighten,  his  heart  beat,  as 
he  beheld  the  battalion  under  arms,  and  asked  me  if  they 
were  not  real  soldiers.  Child  as  he  was,  he  had  the  enthusi- 
asm, the  pure  love  of  truth,  honor,  and  love  of  country, 
which  should  animate  all  soldiers. 

"God  only  knows  why  he  should  die  thus  young.  He  is 
dead,  but  will  not  be  forgotten  till  those  who  knew  him  in 
life  have  followed  him  to  that  same  mysterious  end. 

"Please  convey  to  the  battalion  my  heart-felt  thanks,  and 
assure  each  and  all  that  if  in  after  years  they  call  on  me  or 
mine,  and  mention  that  they  were  of  the  Thirteenth  Regulars 
when  Willie  was  a  sergeant,  they  will  have  a  key  to  the 
affections  of  my  family  that  will  open  all  it  has;  that  we 
will  share  with  them  our  last  blanket,  our  last  crust! 

"Your  friend,          W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General" 

Long  afterward,  in  the  spring  of  1867,  his  body  was  dis- 
interred and  brought  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  is  now  buried  in 
a  beautiful  spot,  in  Calvary  Cemetery,  by  the  side  of  another 
child,  "Charles,"  who  was  born  at  Lancaster,  in  the  summer 
of  1864,  died  early,  and  was  buried  at  Notre  Dame,  Indiana. 
Over  Willie's  grave  is  erected  a  beautiful  marble  monument, 
designed  and  executed  by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  that 
battalion  which  claimed  him  as  a  sergeant  and  comrade. 

The  work  now  upon  us  was  very  pressing.  It  was  whis- 
pered that  a  large  part  of  Lee's  army  had  been  sent  to  aid 
Bragg  in  capturing  Rosecrans.  This  policy  was  believed  to 
be  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  sympathizers  of  the  Rebellion 
in  the  North  who  were  constantly  on  the  watch  for  a  chance 
for  an  effective  fire  in  the  rear.  Major- General  S.  A.  Hurl- 
but  was  in  command  at  Memphis  and  to  him  the  General 
Commanding  at  Washington  (Halleck,)  sent  dispatches  urging 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  217 

the   utmost   speed   in  forwarding  troops  to  counteract  the 
efforts  of  the  enemy. 

It  was  the  task  of  Sherman's  troops  to  repair  the  Memphis 
Charleston  Railroad,  so  as  to  have  supplies  forwarded  in  that 
direction.  As  the  work  progressed  we  had  frequent  skirmishes 
with  the  enemy,  though  General  Sherman  took  every  precau- 
tion to  prevent  any  general  engagement  until  the  army 
could  be  massed  for  the  purpose.  At  Corinth  on  the  i6th 
of  October,  1863,  General  Sherman  received  the  following 
dispatches: 

"MEMPHIS,  October  14,  1863 — n  A.  M. 
"Arrived  this  morning.  Will  be  off  in  a  few  hours.  My 
orders  are  only  to  go  to  Cairo,  and  report  from  there  by 
telegraph.  McPherson  will  be  in  Canton  to-day.  He  will 
remain  there  until  Sunday  or  Monday  next,  and  reconnoiter 
as  far  eastward  as  possible  with  cavalry  in  the  meantime. 

"U.   S.   GRANT,  Major -General." 

"WASHINGTON,   October,  14,  1863 — i  P.  M. 
"Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Corinth. 

"Yours  of  the  loth  is  received.  The  important  matter  to  be 
attended  to  is  that  of  supplies.  When  Eastport  can  be 
reached  by  boats,  the  use  of  the  railroad  can  be  dispensed 
with;  but  until  that  time  it  must  be  guarded  as  far  as  used. 
The  Kentucky  Railroad  can  barely  supply  General  Rosecrans. 
All  these  matters  must  be  left  to  your  judgment  as  circum- 
stances may  arise.  Should  the  enemy  be  so  strong  as  to  pre- 
vent your  going  to  Athens,  or  connecting  with  General  Rose- 
crans, you  will  nevertheless  have  assisted  him  greatly  by 
drawing  away  a  part  of  the  enemy's  forces. 

"H.  W.   HALLECK,  Major-General." 


2l8  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

"HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY,  ) 
"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  16,  1863.  ) 
"Major  General  U.  S.  GRANT,  Louisville. 

"GENERAL:  You  will  receive  herewith  the  orders  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  placing  you  in  command  of 
the  Departments  of  the  Ohio,  Cumberland  and  Tennessee. 
The  organization  of  these  departments  will  be  changed  as 
you  may  deem  most  practicable.  You  will  immediately  pro- 
ceed to  Chattanooga,  and  relieve  General  Rosecrans.  You 
can  communicate  with  Generals  Burnside  and  Sherman  by 
telegraph.  A  summary  of  the  orders  sent  to  these  officers 
will  be  sent  to  you  immediately.  It  is  left  optional  with  you  to 
supersede  General  Rosecrans  by  General  G.  H.Thomas, or  not. 
Any  other  changes  will  be  made  on  your  request  by  telegram. 

"One  of  the  first  objects  requiring  your  attention  is  the  sup- 
ply of  your  armies.  Another  is  the  security  of  the  passes  in 
the  Georgia  mountains,  to  shut  out  the  enemy  from  Tennes- 
see and  Kentucky.  You  will  consult  with  General  Meigs  and 
Colonel  Scott  in  regard  to  transportation  and  supplies. 

"Should  circumstances  permit,  I  will  visit  you  personally 
in  a  few  days  for  consultation. 

"H.  W.  HALLECK,  General-in-Chief." 

By  the  last  order  General  Grant  was  made  commander  of 
all  the  forces  in  the  west,  and  the  first  step  taken  toward 
the  initiation  of  that  great  undertaking  with  which  General 
Sherman's  name  will  ever  be  linked.  The  reasons  leading  up 
to  the  appointment  may  be  drawn  from  the  following  letter 
from  General  Halleck: 

"HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY,  ) 
"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  20,  1863.  ( 
"Major-General  GRANT,  Louisville. 

"GENERAL:  In  compliance  with  my  promise,  I  now  pro- 
ceed to  give  you  a  brief  statement  of  the  objects  aimed  at  by 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  2IQ 

General  Rosecrans'  and  General  Burnside's  movement  into 
East  Tennessee,  and  of  the  measures  directed  to  be  taken 
to  attain  these  objects. 

"It  has  been  the  constant  desire  of  the  Government  from  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  to  rescue  the  loyal  inhabitants  of  East 
Tennessee  from  the  hands  of  the  Rebels,  who  fully  appreciated 
the  importance  of  continuing  their  hold  upon  that  country. 

"In  addition  to  the  large  amount  of  agricultural  products 
drawn  from  the  upper  valley'  of  the  Tennessee,  they  also  ob- 
tained iron  and  other  materials  from  the  vicinity  of  Chatta- 
nooga. The  possession  of  East  Tennessee  would  cut  off  one 
of  their  most  important  railroad  communciations,  and  threat- 
en their  manufactories  at  Rome,  Atlanta,  etc. 

"When  General  Buell  was  ordered  into  East  Tennessee  in 
the  summer  of  1862,  Chattanooga  was  comparatively  unpro- 
tected; but  Bragg  reached  there  before  Buell,  and,  by  threat- 
ening his  communciations,  forced  him  to  retreat  on  Nashville 
and  Louisville.  Again,  after  the  battle  of  Perryville,  Gen- 
eral Buell  was  urged  to  pursue  Bragg' s.  defeated  army,  and 
drive  it  from  East  Tennessee.  The  same  was  urged  upon 
his  successor,  but  the  lateness  of  the  season  or  other  causes 
prevented  further  operations  after  the  battle  of  Stone  River. 

"Last  spring,  when  your  movements  on  the  Mississippi  River 
had  drawn  out  of  Tennessee  a  large  force  of  the  enemy, 
I  again  urged  General  Rosecrans  to  take  advantage  of  that 
opportunity  to  carry  out  his  projected  plan  of  campaign, 
General  Burnside  being  ready  to  co-operate,  with  a  diminished 
but  still  efficient  force.  But  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  act 
in  time,  preferring  to  lie  still  till  your  campaign  should  be 
terminated.  I  represented  to  him,  but  without  avail,  that 
by  this  delay  Johnston  might  be  able  to  reinforce  Bragg  with 
the  troops  then  operating  against  you. 

"When  General  Rosecrans  finally  determined  to  advance, 


22O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

he  was  allowed  to  select  his  own  lines  and  plans  for  carry- 
ing out  the  objects  of  the  expedition.  He  was  directed,  how-^ 
ever,  to  report  his  movements  daily,  till  he  crossed  the  Ten- 
nessee, and  to  connect  his  left,  so  far  as  possible,  with  Gen- 
eral Burnside 's  right.  General  Burnside  was  directed  to 
move  simultaneously,  connecting  his  right,  as  far  as  possible, 
with  General  Rosecrans'  left,  so  that,  if  the  enemy  concen- 
trated upon  either  army,  the  other  could  move  to  its  assist- 
ance. When  General  Burnside  reached  Kingston  and  Knox- 
ville,  and  found  no  considerable  number  of  the  enemy  in  East 
Tennessee,  he  was  instructed  to  move  down  the  river  and 
co-operate  with  General  Rosecrans. 

These  instructions  were  repeated  some  fifteen  times,  but 
were  not  carried  out,  General  Burnside  alleging  as  an  excuse 
that  he  believed  that  Bragg  was  in  retreat,  and  that  General 
Rosecrans  needed  no  reinforcements.  When  the  latter  had 
gained  possession  of  Chattanooga  he  was  directed  not  to 
move  on  Rome  as  he  proposed,  but  simply  to  hold  the 
mountain-passes,  so  as  to  prevent  the  ingress  of  the  Rebels 
into  East  Tennessee.  That  object  accomplished,  I  considered 
the  campaign  as  ended,  at  least  for  the  present.  Future 
operations  would  depend  upon  the  ascertained  strength  and 
movements  of  the  enemy.  In  other  words,  the  main  objects 
of  the  campaign  were  the  restoration  of  East  Tennessee  to 
the  Union,  and  by  holding  the  two  extremities  of  the  valley 
to  secure  it  from  Rebel  invasion. 

"The  moment  I  received  reliable  information  of  the  departure 
of  Longstreet's  corps  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  I  ordered 
forward  to  General  Rosecrans  every  available  man  in  the 
Department  of  the  Ohio,  and  again  urged  General  Burnside 
to  move  to  his  assistance.  I  also  telegraphed  to  Generals 
Hurlbut,  Sherman,  and  yourself,  to  send  forward  all  available 
troops  in  your  department.  If  these  forces  had  been  sent  to 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  221 

General  Rosecrans  by  Nashville,  they  could  not  have  been 
supplied;  I  therefore  directed  them  to  move  by  Corinth  and 
the  Tennessee  River.  The  necessity  of  this  has  been  proved 
by  the  fact  that  the  reinforcements  sent  to  him  from  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  have  not  been  able,  for  the  want  of 
railroad  transportation,  to  reach  General  Rosecrans'  army 
in  the  field. 

"In  regard  to  the  relative  strength  of  the  opposing  armies, 
it  is  believed  that  General  Rosecrans  when  he  first  moved 
against  Bragg  had  double,  if  not  treble,  his  force.  General 
Burnside,  also,  had  more  than  double  the  force  of  Buckner; 
and,  even  when  Bragg  and  Buckner  united,  Rosecrans'  army 
was  very  greatly  superior  in  number.  Even  the  eighteen 
thousand  men  sent  from  Virginia,  under  Longstreet,  would 
not  have  given  the  enemy  the  superiority.  It  is  now  ascer- 
tained that  the  greater  part  of  the  prisoners  paroled  by  you 
at  Vicksburg,  and  General  Banks  at  Port  Hudson,  were  ille- 
gally and  improperly  declared  exchanged,  and  forced  into  the 
ranks  to  swell  the  Rebel  numbers  at  Chickamauga.  This  out- 
rageous act,  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  war,  of  the  cartel  en- 
tered into  by  the  Rebel  authorities,  and  of  all  sense  of  honor, 
gives  us  a  useful  lesson  in  regard  to  the  character  of  the 
enemy  with  whom  we  are  contending.  He  neither  regards 
the  rules  of  civilized  warfare,  nor  even  his  most  solemn  en- 
gagements. You  may,  therefore,  expect  to  meet  in  arms 
thousands  of  unexchanged  prisoners  released  by  you  and 
others  on  parole,  not  to  serve  again  till  duly  exchanged. 

"Although  the  enemy  by  this  disgraceful  means  has  been 
able  to  concentrate  in  Georgia  and  Alabama  a  much  larger 
force  than  we  anticipated,  your  armies  will  be  abundantly 
able  to  defeat  him.  Your  difficulty  will  not  be  in  the  want 
of  men,  but  in  the  means  of  supplying  them  at  this  season  of 
the  year.  A  single-track  railroad  can  supply  an  army  of 


222  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

sixty  or  seventy  thousand  men,  with  the  usual  number  of 
cavalry  and  artillery;  but  beyond  that  number,  or  with  a  large 
mounted  force,  the  difficulty  of  supply  is  very  great. 

"I  do  not  know  the  present  condition  of  the  road  from  Nash- 
ville to  Decatur,  but,  if  practicable  to  repair  it,  the  use  of 
that  triangle  will  be  of  great  assistance  to  you.  I  hope,  also, 
that  the  recent  rise  of  water  in  the  Cumberland  and  Ten- 
nessee Rivers  will  enable  you  to  employ  water  transportation 
to  Nashville,  Eastport,  or  Florence.. 

"If  you  re-occupy  the  passes  of  Lookout  Mountain,  which 
should  never  have  been  given  up,  you  will  be  able  to  use  the 
railroad  and  river  from  Bridgeport  to  Chattanooga.  This 
seems  to  me  a  matter  of  vital  importance,  and  should  receive 
your  early  attention. 

"I  submit  this  summary  in  the  hope  that  it  will  assist  you 
in  fully  understanding  the  objects  of  the  campaign,  and  the 
means  of  attaining  these  objects.  Probably  the  Secretary  of 
War,  in  his  interviews  with  you  at  Louisville,  has  gone  over 
the  same  ground. 

"Whatever  measures  you  may  deem  proper  to  adopt  under 
existing  circumstances,  you  will  receive  all  possible  assistance 
from  the  authorities  at  Washington.  You  have  never,  here- 
tofore, complained  that  such  assistance  has  not  been  afforded 
you  in  your  operations,  and  I  think  you  will  have  no  cause 
of  complaint  in  your  present  campaign. 

"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

"W.  H.  HALLECK,  General-in-Chief" 

On  the  2/th  of  October  we  were  still  mending  bridges  and 
preparing  roads  for  transportation,  when  General  Sherman 
received  the  following  dispatch  at  the  hands  of  a  rough  and 
dirty  looking  fellow,  who  was  as  good  a  soldier  as  he  was  a 
tough-looking  citizen: 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  223 

"Drop  all  work  on  Memphis  &  Charleston  Railroad,  cross 
the  Tennessee,  and  hurry  eastward  with  all  possible  dispatch 
toward  Bridgeport,  till  you  meet  further  orders  from  me. 

"U.  S.  GRANT." 

We  were  obliged  to  make  forced  marches,  and  hurried  to- 
ward the  east  as  rapidly  as  possible.  An  incident  related  by 
General  Sherman  shows  what  close  connection  there  was 
between  the  guerrillas  and  their  friends  at  home. 

"On  the  road  to  Florence  I  was  accompanied  by  my  staff, 
some  clerks  and  mounted  orderlies.  Major  Ezra  Taylor  was 
chief  of  artillery,  and  one  of  his  sons  was  a  clerk  at  head- 
quarters. The  latter  seems  to  have  dropped  out  of  the  col- 
umn, and  gone  to  a  farm-house  near  the  road.  There  was 
no  organized  force  of  the  Rebel  army  north  of  the  Tennessee 
River,  but  the  country  was  full  of  guerrillas.  A  party  of 
these  pounced  down  on  the  farm,  caught  young  Taylor  and 
another  of  the  clerks,  and  after  reaching  Florence,  Major 
Taylor  heard  of  the  capture  of  his  son,  and  learned  that  when 
last  seen  he  was  stripped  of  his  hat  and  coat,  and  was  tied  to 
the  tail-board  of  a  wagon,  and  driven  rapidly  to  the  north  of 
the  road  we  had  traveled.  The  major  appealed  to  me  to  do 
something  for  his  rescue.  I  had  no  cavalry  to  send  in  pur- 
suit, but  knowing  that  there  was  always  an  understanding 
between  these  guerrillas  and  their  friends  who  staid  at  home, 
I  sent  for  three  or  four  of  the  principal  men  of  Florence, 
(among  them  a  Mr.  Foster,  who  had  once  been  a  Senator  in 
Congress),  explained  to  them  the  capture  of  young  Taylor 
and  his  comrade,  and  demanded  their  immediate  restoration. 
They,  of  course,  remonstratd,  denied  all  knowledge  of  the 
acts  of  these  guerrillas,  and  claimed  to  be  peaceful  citizens 
of  Alabama,  residing  at  home.  I  insisted  that  these  guerrillas 
were  their  own  sons  and  neighbors;  that  they  knew  their 


224  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

haunts,  and  could  reach  them  if  they  wanted,  and  they  could 
effect  the  restoration  to  us  of  these  men;  and  I  said,  moreover, 
they  must  do  it  within  twenty-four  hours,  or  I  would  take 
them,  strip  them  of  their  hats  and  coats,  and  tie  them  to  the 
tail-boards  of  our  wagons  till  they  were  produced.  They 
sent  off  messengers  at  once,  and  young  Taylor  and  his  com- 
rade were  brought  back  the  next  day." 

,  At  Bridgeport,  General  Sherman  received  a  request  from 
General  Grant  to  go  at  once  to  Chattanooga  without  waiting 
for  the  advance  of  the  troops,  as  he  was  needed  for  a  con- 
sultation. On  the  morning  of  the  I4th  of  November  he 
reached  Chattanooga  and  the  next  day  rode  out  to  examine 
the  surroundings.  Much  to  the  surprise  of  General  Sherman, 
it  was  discovered  that  General  Grant  had  been  practically 
surrounded,  and  was  actually  besieged  by  the  enemy,  whose 
army  was  uncomfortably  near.  From  Grant's  headquarters 
could  be  seen  the  house  where  Bragg  was  staying.  Matters 
looked  discouraging  for  the  armies  of  the  west.  The  offi- 
cers and  men  of  General  Thomas'  army  were  worn  out  and 
discouraged.  The  horses  could  scarcely  drag  the  guns.  For- 
age was  scarce.  For  these  reasons  Grant  wished  Sherman 
to  take  the  field  first  and  commence  the  attack,  believing  the 
other  troops  would  fight  better  with  such  an  example. 

Gsneral  Sherman  took  with  him  Generals  Thomas,  "Baldy" 
Smith,  Brannan,  and  a  few  others  and  climbed  a  hill  to  get  a 
good  view  of  the  country.  After  careful  study  they  returned 
to  their  commands  to  make  preparation  for  an  attack.  No 
better  record  of  the  battles  around  Chattanooga  can  be 
found  than  are  contained  in  the  official  report  of  General 
Sherman: 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  22$ 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  AND  ARMY  OF  THE  TENN.,  ) 
BRIDGEPORT,  ALABAMA,  December  19,  1863.  ) 

Brigadier-General  JOHN  A.  RAWLINS,  Chief  of  Staff  to  Gen- 
eral GRANT,  Chattanooga. 

"GENERAL:  For  the  first  time,  I  am  now  at  leisure  to 
make  an  official  record  of  events  with  which  the  troops  un- 
der my  command  have  been  connected  during  the  eventful 
campaign  which  has  just  closed. 

"During  the  month  of  September  last,  the  Fifteenth  Army 
Corps,  which  I  had  the  honor  to  command,  lay  in  camps 
along  the  Big  Black,  about  twenty  miles  east  of  Vicksburg, 
Mississippi.  It  consisted  of  four  divisions.  The  First,  com- 
manded by  Brigadier-General  P.  J.  Osterhaus,  was  composed 
of  two  brigades,  led  by  Brigadier-General  C.  R.  Woods  and 
Colonel  J.  A.  Williamson,  (of  the  Fourth  Iowa.) 

"The  Second,  commanded  by  Brigadier-General  Morgan 
L.  Smith,  was  composed  of  two  brigades,  led  by  Brigadier- 
Generals  Giles  A.  Smith,  and  J.  A.  J.  Lightburn. 

"The  third,  commanded  by  Brigadier-General  J.  M.  Tut- 
tle,  was  composed  of  three  brigades,  led  by  Brigadier-Gen- 
erals J.  A.  Mower  and  R.  P.  Buckland,  and  Colonel  J.  J. 
Wood,  of  the  Twelfth  Iowa. 

"The  Fourth,  commanded  by  Brigadier-General  Hugh  Ew- 
ing,  was  composed  of  three  brigades,  led  by  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral J.  M.  Corse,  Colonel  Loomis,  Twenty-sixth  Illinois,  and 
Colonel  J.  R.  Cockerill,  of  the  Seventieth  Ohio. 

"Onthe22d  day  of  September  I  received  a  telegraphic  dis- 
patch from  General  Grant,  then  at  Vicksburg,  commanding 
the  Department  of  the  Tennessee,  requiring  me  to  detach 
one  of  my  divisions  to  march  to  Vicksburg,  there  to  embark 
for  Memphis,  where  it  was  to  form  a  part  of  an  army  to  be 
sent  to  Chattanooga,  to  reinforce  General  Rosecrans.  I 


226  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

designated  the  First  Division,  and  at  4  p.  M.  the  same  day  it 
marched  for  Vicksburg,  and  embarked  the  next  day. 

"On  the  23d  of  September,  I  was  summoned  to  Vicks- 
burg by  the  general  commanding,  who  showed  me  several 
dispatches  from  the  General-in-Chief,  which  led  him  to  sup- 
pose he  would  have  to  send  me  and  my  whole  corps  to  Mem- 
phis and  eastward,  and  I  was  instructed  to  prepare  for  such 
orders.  It  was  explained  to  me  that,  in  consequence  of  the 
low  stage  of  water  in  the  Mississippi,  boats  had  arrived  irreg- 
ularly, and  had  brought  dispatches  that  seemed  to  conflict 
in  their  meaning,  and  that  General  John  E.  Smith's  division 
of  General  McPherson's  corps  had  been  ordered  up  to  Mem- 
phis, and  that  I  should  take  that  division  and  leave  one  of 
my  own  in  its  stead,  to  hold  the  line  of  the  Big  Black.  I 
detailed  my  third  division,  General  Tuttle,  to  remain  and 
report  to  Major-General  McPherson,  commanding  the  Seven- 
teenth Corps,  at  Vicksburg;  and  that  of  General  John  E. 
Smith,  already  started  for  Memphis,  was  styled  the  Third 
Division,  Fifteenth  Corps,  though  it  still  belongs  to  the  Sev- 
enteenth Army  Corps.  This  division  is  also  composed  of 
three  brigades,  commanded  by  General  Matthias,  Colonel  J. 
B.  Raum,  of  the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois,  and  Colonel  J.  I.  Alex- 
ander, of  the  Fifty-ninth  Indiana. 

"The  Second  and  Fourth  Divisions  were  started  for  Vicks- 
burg the  moment  I  was  notified  that  boats  were  in  readiness, 
and  on  the  2/th  of  September  I  embarked  in  person  in  the 
steamer  Atlantic,  for  Memphis,  followed  by  a  fleet  of  boats 
conveying  these  two  divisions.  Our  progress  was  slow,  on 
account  of  the  unprecedentedly  low  water  in  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  scarcity  of  coal  and  wood.  We  were  compelled  at 
places  to  gather  fence-rails,  and  to  land  wagons  and  haul 
wood  from  the  interior  to  the  boats;  but  I  reached  Memphis 
during  the  night  of  the  2d  of  October,  and  the  other  boats 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  227 

came  in  on  the  3d  and  4th.  On  arrival  at  Memphis  I  saw 
General  Hurlbut,  and  read  all  the  dispatches  and  letters  of 
instruction  of  General  Halleck,  and  therein  derived  my  in- 
structions, which  I  construed  to  be  as  follows: 

"To  conduct  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  and  all  other  troops 
which  could  be  spared  from  the  line  of  the  Memphis  &  Charles- 
ton Railroad,  to  Athens,  Alabama,  and  thence  report  by  let- 
ter for  orders  to  General  Rosecrans,  commanding  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  at  Chattanooga;  to  follow  substantially 
the  railroad  eastward,  repairing  it  as  I  moved;  to  look  to  my 
own  line  for  supplies;  and  in  no  event  to  depend  on  General 
Rosecrans  for  supplies,  as  the  roads  to  his  rear  were  already 
overtaxed  to  supply  his  present  army. 

"I  learned  from  General  Hurlbut  that  General  Osterhaus' 
division  was  already  out  in  front  of  Corinth,  and  that  Gen- 
eral John  E.  Smith  was  still  at  Memphis,  moving  his  troops 
and  material  by  railroad  as  fast  as  its  limited  stock  would 
carry  them.  General  J.  D.  Webster  was  superintendent  of 
the  railroad,  and  was  enjoined  to  work  night  and  day,  and 
to  expedite  the  movement  as  rapidly  as  possible;  but  the 
capacity  of  the  road  was  so  small,  that  I  soon  saw  that  I 
could  move  horses,  mules,  and  wagons  faster  by  land,  and 
therefore  I  dispatched  the  artillery  and  wagons  by  the  road 
under  escort,  and  finally  moved  the  entire  Fourth  division  by 
land. 

"The  enemy  seems  to  have  had  early  notice  of  this  move- 
ment, and  he  endeavored  to  thwart  us  form  the  start.  A 
considerable  force  assembled  in  a  threatening  attitude  at 
Salem,  south  of  Salisbury  Station;  and  General  Carr,  who 
commanded  at  Corinth,  felt  compelled  to  turn  back  and  use 
a  part  of  my  troops,  that  had  already  reached  Corinth,  to 
resist  the  threatened  attack. 

"On  Sunday,  October  nth,  having  put  in  motion  my  whole 


228  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

force,  I  started  myself  for  Corinth,  in  a  special  train,  with 
the  battalion  of  the  Thirteenth  United  States  Regulars  as 
escort.  We  reached  Collierville  Station  about  noon,  just  in 
time  to  take  part  in  the  defense  made  of  that  station  by  Colo- 
nel D.  C.  Anthony,  of  the  Sixty-sixth  Indiana,  against  an 
attack  made  by  General  Chalmers  with  a  force  of  about 
three  thousand  cavalry  with  eight  pieces  of  artillery.  He 
was  beaten  off,  the  damage  to  the  road  repaired,  and  we  re- 
sumed our  journey  the  next  day,  reaching  Corinth  at  night. 

"I  immediately  ordered  General  Blair  forward  to  luka, 
with  the  First  division,  and,  as  fast  as  I  got  troops  up, 
pushed  them  forward  to  Bear  Creek,  the  bridge  of  which 
was  completely  destroyed,  and  an  engineer  regiment,  under 
command  of  Colonel  Flad,  was  engaged  in  its  repairs. 

"Quite  a  considerable  force  of  the  enemy  was  assembled 
in  our  front,  near  Tuscumbia,  to  resist  our  advance.  It  was 
commanded  by  General  Stephen  D.  Lee,  and  composed  of 
Roddy's  and  Ferguson's  brigades,  with  irregular  cavalry, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  about  five  thousand. 

"In  person  I  moved  from  Corinth  to  Burnsville  on  the  i8th, 
and  to  luka  on  the  iQth  of  October. 

"Osterhaus'  division  was  in  the  advance,  constantly  skir- 
mishing with  the  enemy;  he  was  supported  by  General  Mor- 
gan L.  Smith's,  both  divisions  under  the  general  command  of 
Major-General  Blair.  General  John  E.  Smith's  division 
covered  the  working  party  engaged  in  rebuilding  the  railroad. 

"Foreseeing  difficulty  in  crossing  the  Tennessee  River,  I 
had  written  to  Admiral  Porter,  at  Cairo,  asking  him  to 
watch  the  Tennessee  and  send  up  some  gunboats  the  mo- 
ment the  stage  of  water  admitted;  and  had  also  requested 
General  Allen,  quartermaster  at  St.  Louis,  to  dispatch  to 
Eastport  a  steam  ferry-boat. 

"The  admiral,  ever  prompt  and  ready  to  assist  us,  had 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  229 

two  fine  gunboats  at  Eastport,  under  Captain  Phelps,  the  very 
day  after  my  arrival  at  luka;  and  Captain  Phelps  had  a  coal- 
barge  decked  over,  with  which  to  cross  our  horses  and  wagons 
before  the  arrival  of  the  ferry-boat. 

"Still  following  literally  the  instructions  of  General  Halleck, 
I  pushed  forward  the  repairs  of  the  railroad,  and  ordered 
General  Blair,  with  the  two  leading  divisions,  to  drive  the 
enemy  beyond  Tuscumbia.  This  he  did  successfully,  after 
a  pretty  severe  fight  at  Cane  Creek,  occupying  Tuscumbia 
on  the  27th  of  October. 

"In  the  meantime  many  important  changes  in  command 
had  occurred,  which  I  must  note  here,  to  a  proper  under- 
standing of  the  case. 

"General  Grant  had  been  called  from  Vicksburg,  and  sent 
to  Chattanooga  to  command  the  military  division  of  the 
Mississippi,  composed  of  the  three  departments  of  the 
Ohio,  Cumberland,  and  Tennessee;  and  the  department 
of  the  Tennessee  had  been  devolved  on  me,  with  in- 
structions, however,  to  retain  command  of  the  army  in 
the  field.  At  luka  I  made  what  appeared  to  me  the  best  dis- 
position of  matters  relating  to  the  department,  giving  General 
McPherson  full  powers  in  Mississippi  and  General  Hurlbut 
in  West  Tennessee,  and  assigned  General  Blair  to  the 
command  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps;  and  summoned  Gen- 
eral Hurlbut  from  Memphis,  and  General  Dodge  from  Corinth, 
and  selected  out  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps  a  force  of  about  eight 
thousand  men,  which  I  directed  General  Dodge  to  organize 
with  all  expedition,  and  with  it  to  follow  me  eastward. 

"On  the  2/th  of  October,  when  General  Blair,  with  two 
divisions,  was  at  Tuscumbia,  I  ordered  General  Ewing,  with 
the  Fourth  division,  to  cross  the  Tennessee  by  means  of  the 
gunboats  and  scow  as  rapidly  as  possible  at  Eastport,  and 
push  forward  to  Florence,  which  he  did;  and  the  same  day 


23O  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

a  messenger  from  General  Grant  floated  down  the  Tennessee 
over  Muscle  Shoals,  landed  at  Tuscumbia,  and  was  sent  to 
me  at  luka.  He  bore  a  short  message  from  the  general  to 
this  effect:  'Drop  all  work  on  the  railroad  east  of  Bear  Creek; 
push  your  command  toward  Bridgeport  till  you  meet  orders;' 
etc.  Instantly  the  order  was  executed;  the  order  of  march  was 
reversed,  and  all  the  columns  were  directed  to  Eastport,  the 
only  place  where  we  could  cross  the  Tennessee.  At  first  we 
only  had  the  gunboats  and  coal-barge;  but  the  ferry-boat  and 
two  transports  arrived  on  the  3  ist  of  October,  and  the  work  of 
crossing  was  pushed  with  all  the  vigor  possible.  In  person  I 
crossed,  and  passed  to  the  head  of  the  column  at  Florence 
on  the  ist  of  November,  leaving  the  rear  divisions  to  be  con- 
ducted by  General  Blair,  and  marched  to  Rogersville  and  Elk 
River.  This  was  found  impassable.  To  ferry  would  have 
consumed  too  much  time,  and  to  build  a  bridge  still  more; 
so  there  was  no  alternative  but  to  turn  up  Elk  River  by  way 
of  Gilbertsboro,  Elkton,  etc.,  to  the  stone  bridge  at  Fayette- 
ville,  where  we  crossed  the  Elk,  and  proceeded  to  Winches- 
ter and  Deckerd. 

"At  Fayetteville  I  received  orders  form  General  Grant  to 
come  to  Bridgeport  with  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  and 
to  leave  General  Dodge's  company  at  Pulaski,,  and  along 
the  railroad  from  Columbus  to  Decatur.  I  instructed  Gen- 
eral Blair  to  follow  with  the  Second  and  First  divisions  by 
way  of  New  Market,  Larkinsville,  and  Bellefonte,  while  I  con- 
ducted the  other  two  divisions  by  way  of  Deckerd;  the 
Fourth  division  crossing  the  mountain  to  Stevenson,  and 
the  Third  by  University  Place  and  Sweden's  Cove. 

"In  person  I  proceeded  by  Sweden's  Cove  and  Battle 
Creek,  reaching  Bridgeport  on  the  night  of  November  1 3th. 
I  immediately  telegraphed  to  the  commanding  general  my 
arrival,  and  the  positions  of  my  several  divisions,  and  was 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  23 1 

summoned  to  Chattanooga.  I  took  the  first  steamboat  dur- 
ing the  night  of  the  I4th  for  Kelly's  Ferry,  and  rode  into 
Chattanooga  on  the  1 5th.  I  then  learned  the  part  assigned 
me  in  the  coming  drama,  was  supplied  with  the  necessary 
maps  and  information,  and  rode,  during  the  i6th,  in  company 
with  Generals  Grant,  Thomas,  W.  F.  Smith,  Brannan,  and 
others,  to  the  positions  occupied  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Tennessee,  from  which  could  be  seen  the  camps  of  the  en- 
emy, compassing  Chattanooga  and  the  line  of  the  Mission- 
ary Hills,  with  its  terminus  on  Chickamauga  Creek,  the  point 
that  I  was  expected  to  take,  hold,  and  fortify.  Pontoons, 
with  a  full  supply  of  balks  and  chesses,  had  been  prepared 
for  the  bridge  over  the  Tennessee,  and  all  things  had  been 
prearranged  with  a  foresight  that  elicited  my  admiration., 
From  the  hills  we  looked  down  on  the  amphitheater  of  Chat- 
tanooga as  on  a  map,  and  nothing  remained  but  for  me  to  put 
rny  troops  in  the  desired  position.  The  plan  contemplated 
that,  in  addition  to  crossing  the  Tennessee  River  and  making 
a  lodgment  on  the  terminus  of  Missionary  Ridge,  I  should 
demonstrate  against  Lookout  Mountain,  near  Trenton,  with 
a  part  of  my  command. 

"All  in  Chattanooga  were  impatient  for  action,  ren- 
dered almost  acute  by  the  natural  apprehensions  felt  for  the 
safety  of  General  Burnside  in  East  Tennessee. 

"My  command  had  marched  from  Memphis,  three  hundred 
and  thirty  miles,  and  I  had  pushed  them  as  fast  as  the  roads 
and  distance  would  admit,  but  I  saw  enough  of  the  condi- 
tion of  men  and  animals  in  Chattanooga  to  inspire  me  with 
renewed  energy.  I  immediately  ordered  my  leading  division, 
General  Ewing's,  to  march  via  Shellmound  to  Trenton,  dem- 
onstrating against  Lookout  Ridge,  but  to  be  prepared  to  turn 
quickly  and  follow  me  to  Chattanooga,  and  in  person  I  re- 
turned to  Bridgeport,  rowing  a  boat  down  the  Tennessee 


232  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

from  Kelly's  Ferry,  and  immediately  on  my  arrival  put  in 
motion  my  divisions  in  the  order  in  which  they  had  arrived. 
The  bridge  of  boats  at  Bridgeport  was  frail,  and,  though 
used  day  and  night,  our  passage  was  slow;  and  the  road 
thence  to  Chattanooga  was  dreadfully  cut  up  and  encumbered 
with  the  wagons  of  the  other  troops  stationed  along  the  road. 
I  reached  General  Hooker's  headquarters  during  a  rain,  in 
the  afternoon  of  the  2Oth,  and  met  General  Grant's  orders  for 
the  general  attack  on  the  next  day.  It  was  simply  impossi- 
ble for  me  to  fulfill  my  part  in  time;  only  one  division,  Gen- 
eral John  E.  Smith's,  was  in  position.  General  Ewing  was 
still  at  Trenton,  and  the  other  two  were  toiling  along  the 
terrible  road  from  Shellmound  to  Chattanooga.  No  troops 
ever  were  or  could  be  in  better  condition  than  mine,  or  who 
labored  harder  to  fulfill  their  part.  On  a  proper  represen- 
tation, General  Grant  postponed  the  attack.  On  the  2ist  I 
got  the  second  Division  over  Brown's-Ferry  Bridge,  and 
General  Ewing  got  up;  but  the.  bridge  broke  repeatedly,  and 
delays  occurred  which  no  human  sagacity  could  prevent.  All 
labored  night  and  day,  and  General  Ewing  got  over  on  the 
23d;  but  my  rear  division  was  cut  off  by  the  broken  bridge 
at  Brown's  Ferry,  and  could  not  join  me.  I  offered  to  go 
into  action  with  my  three  divisions,  supported  by  General 
Jeff.  C.  Davis,  leaving  one  of  my  best  divisions,  Osterhaus' 
to  act  with  General  Hooker  against  Lookout  Mountain.  That 
division  has  not  joined  me  yet,  but  I  know  and  feel  that  it 
has  served  the  country  well,  and  that  it  has  reflected  honor  on 
the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  and  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  I 
leave  the  record  of  its  history  to  General  Hooker,  or  whoso- 
ever has  had  its  services  during  the  late  memorable  events, 
confident  that  all  will  do  it  merited  honor. 

"At  last,   on  the   23rd  of  November,    my  three  divisions 
lay  behind  the  hills  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Chickamauga. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  233 

I  dispatched  the  brigade  of  the  Second  Division,  commanded 
by  General  Giles  A.  Smith,  under  cover  of  the  hills,  to  North 
Chickamauga  Creek,  to  man  the  bpats  designed  for  the 
pontoon  bridge,  with  orders,  at  midnight,  to  drop  down 
silently  to  a  point  above  the  mouth  of  the  South  Chickamauga, 
there  land  two  regiments,  who  were  to  move  along  the  river- 
bank  quietly,  and  capture  the  enemy's  river-pickets. 

"General  Giles  A.  Smith  then  was  to  drop  rapidly  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Chickamauga,  disembark  the  rest  of  his 
brigade,  and  dispatch  the  boats  across  for  fresh  loads.  These 
orders  were  skillfully  executed,  and  every  Rebel  picket  but 
one  was  captured.  The  balance  of  General  Morgan  L.  Smith's 
division  was  then  rapidly  ferried  across;  that  of  General  John 
E.  Smith  followed,  and  by  daylight  of  November  24th  two 
divisions  of  about  eight  thousand  men  were  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Tennessee,  and  had  thrown  up  a  very  respectable  rifle- 
trench  as  a  tete  du  pont.  As  soon  as  the  day  dawned,  some 
of  the  boats  were  taken  from  the  use  of  ferrying,  and  a  pon- 
toon bridge  was  begun,  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
Captain  Dresser,  the  whole  planned  and  supervised  by  Gen- 
eral William  F.  Smith  in  person.  A  pontoon-bridge  was 
also  built  at  the  same  time  over  Chickamauga  Creek,  near  its 
mouth,  giving  communication  with  the  two  regiments  which 
had  been  left  on  the  north  side,  and  fulfilling  a  most  impor- 
tant purpose  at  a  later  stage  of  the  drama.  I  will  here  bear 
my  willing  testimony  to  the  completeness  of  this  whole  busi- 
ness. All  the  officers  charged  with  the  work  were  present, 
and  manifested  a  skill  which  I  cannot  praise  too  highly.  I 
have  never  beheld  any  work  done  so  quietly,  so  well;  and 
I  doubt  if  the  history  of  war  can  show  a  bridge  of  that  extent, 
viz. ,  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  laid  so  noiselessly  and 
well,  in  so  short  a  time.  I  attribute  it  to  the  genuis  and  in- 
telligence of  General  William  F.  Smith.  The  steamer  Dun- 


234  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

bar  arrived  up  in  the  course  of  the  morning,  and  relieved 
Ewing's  division  of  the  labor  of  rowing  across;  but  by  noon 
the  pontoon-bridge  was  done,  and  my  three  divisions  were 
across,  with  men,  horses,  artillery,  and  everything. 

"General  Jeff.  C.  Davis'  division  was  ready  to  take  the 
bridge,  and  I  ordered  the  columns  to  form  in  order  to  carry 
the  Missionary  Hills.  The  movement  had  been  carefully  ex- 
plained to  all  division  commanders,  and  at  I  p.  M.  we  marched 
from  the  river  in  three  columns  in  echelon;  the  left,  General 
Morgan  L.  Smith,  the  column  of  direction,  following  sub- 
stantially Chickamauga  Creek;  the  center,  General  John  E. 
Smith,  in  columns,  doubled  on  the  center,  at  one  brigade  in- 
terval to  the  right  and  rear;  the  right,  General  Ewing,  in  col- 
umn at  the  same  distance  to  the  right  rear,  prepraed  to  deploy 
to  the  right,  on  the  supposition  that  we  would  meet  an  en- 
emy in  that  direction.  Each  head  of  column  was  covered  by 
a  good  line  of  skirmishers,  with  supports.  A  light,  drizzling 
rain  prevailed,  and  the  clouds  hung  low,  cloaking  our  move- 
ment from  the  enemy's  tower  of  observation  on  Lookout 
Mountain.  We  soon  gained  the  foot-hills;  our  skirmishers 
crept  up  the  face  of  the  hills,  followed  by  their  supports,  and 
at  3.30  P.  M.  we  had  gained,  with  no  loss  the  desired  point. 
A  brigade  of  each  division  was  pushed  rapidly  to  the  top  of 
the  hill,  and  the  enemy  for  the  first  time  seemed  to  realize  the 
movement,  but  too  late,  for  we  were  in  possession.  He  opened 
with  artillery,  but  General  Ewing  soon  got  some  of  Captain 
Richardson's  guns  up  that  steep  hill  and  gave  back  artillery, 
and  the  enemy's  skirmishers  made  one  or  two  ineffectual 
dashes  at  General  Lightburn,  who  had  swept  around  and  got 
a  farther  hill,  which  was  the  real  continuation  of  the  ridge. 
From  studying  all  the  maps,  I  had  inferred  that  Missionary 
Ridge  was  a  continuous  hill;  but  we  found  ourselves  on  two 
high  points,  with  a  deep  depression  between  us  and  the  one 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  235 

immediately  over  the  tunnel,  which  was  my  chief  objective 
point.  The  ground  we  had  gained  however,  was  so  important, 
that  I  could  leave  nothing  to  chance,  and  ordered  it  to  be  forti- 
fied during  the  night.  One  brigade  of  each  division  was  left  on 
the  hill,  one  of  General  Morgan  L.  Smith's  closed  the  gap  to 
Chickamauga  Creek,  two  of  General  John  E.  Smith's  were 
drawn  back  to  the  base  in  reserve,  and  General  Ewing's 
right  was  extended  down  into  the  plain,  thus  crossing  the 
ridge  in  a  general  line,  facing  southeast. 

"The  enemy  felt  our  left  flank  about  4  p.  M.,  and  a  pretty 
smart  engagement  with  artillery  and  muskets  ensued,  when 
he  drew  off;  but  it  cost  us  dear,  for  General  Giles  A.  Smith 
was  severely  wounded,  and  had  to  go  to  the  rear,  and  the 
command  of  the  brigade  devolved  on  Colonel  Tupper,  One 
Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Illinois,  who  managed  it  with  skill 
during  the  rest  of  the  operations.  At  the  moment  of  my 
crossing  the  bridge,  General  Howard  appeared,  having  come 
with  three  regiments  from  Chattanooga,  along  the  east  bank 
of  the  Tennessee,  connecting  my  new  position  with  that  of 
the  main  army  in  Chattanooga.  He  left  the  three  regiments 
attached  temporarily  to  General  Ewing's  right,  and  returned 
to  his  own  corps  at  Chattanooga.  As  night  closed  in,  I  or- 
dered General  Jeff.  C.  Davis  to  keep  one  of  his  brigades  at  the 
bridge,  one  close  up  to  my  position,  and  one  intermediate. 
Thus  we  passed  the  night,  heavy  details  being  kept  busy  at 
work  on  the  intrenchments  on  the  hill.  During  the  night  the 
sky  cleared  away  bright,  a  cold  frost  filled  the  air,  and  our 
camp-fires  revealed  to  the  enemy  and  to  our  friends  in  Chat- 
tanooga our  position  on  Missionary  Ridge.  About  midnight 
I  received,  at  the  hands  of  Major  Rowley  of  General  Grant's 
staff,  orders  to  attack  the  enemy  at  'dawn  of  day,'  with 
notice  that  General  Thomas  would  attack  in  force  early  in 
the  day.  Accordingly  before  day  I  was  in  the  saddle,  at- 


236  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

tended  by  all  my  staff,  rode  to  the  extreme  left  of  our  position 
near  Chickamauga  Creek,  thence  up  the  hill,  held  by  General 
Lightburn,  and  round  to  the  extreme  right  of  General  Ewing. 

"Catching  as  accurate  an  idea  of  the  ground  as  possible  by 
the  dim  light  of  morning,  I  saw  that  our  line  of  attack  was  in 
the  direction  of  Missionary  Ridge,  with  wings  supporting  on 
either  flank.  Quite  a  valley  lay  between  us  and  the  next  hill 
of  the  series,  and  this  hill  presented  steep  sides,  the  one  to 
the  west  partially  cleared,  but  the  other  covered  with  the 
native  forest.  The  crest  of  the  ridge  was  narrow  and  wooded. 
The  farther  point  of  this  hill  was  held  by  the  enemy  with 
a  breastwork  of  logs  and  fresh  earth,  filled  with  men  and  two 
guns.  The  enemy  was  also  seen  in  great  force  on  a  still 
higher  hill  beyond  the  tunnel,  from  which  he  had  a  fine 
plunging  fire  on  the  hill  in  dispute.  The  gorge  between, 
through  which  several  roads  and  the  railroad-tunnel  pass, 
could  not  be  seen  from  our  position,  but  formed  the  natural 
place  d'armes,  where  the  enemy  covered  his  masses  to  resist 
our  contemplated  movement  of  turning  his  right  flank  and 
endangering  his  communications  with  his  depot  at  Chicka- 
mauga Station. 

"As  soon  as  possible,  the  following  dispositions  Were  made: 
The  brigades  of  Colonels  Cockerill  and  Alexander,  and  Gen- 
eral Lightburn  were  to  hold  our  hill  as  the  key-point.  Gen- 
eral Corse,  with  as  much  of  his  brigade  as  could  operate  along 
the  narrow  ridge,  was  to  attack  from  our  right  center.  Gen- 
eral Lightburn  was  to  dispatch  a  good  regiment  from  his  posi- 
tion to  co-operate  with  General  Corse;  and  General  Morgan 
L.  Smith  was  to  move  along  the  east  base  of  Missionary 
Ridge,  connecting  with  General  Corse;  and  Colonel  Loomis, 
in  like  manner,  to  move  along  the  west  base,  supported  by 
the  two  reserve  brigades  of  General  John  E.  Smith. 

"The  sun  had  hardly  risen  before   General  Corse  had  com- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  237 

pleted  his  preparations  and  his  bugle  sounded  the  'forward!' 
The  Fortieth  Illinois,  supported  by  the  Forty-sixth  Ohio, 
on  our  right  center,  with  the  Thirtieth  Ohio  (Colonel  Jones), 
moved  down  the  face  of  our  hill,  and  up  that  held  by  the 
enemy.  The  line  advanced  to  within  about  eighty  yards  of 
the  intrenched  position,  were  General  Corse  found  a  secondary 
crest,  which  he  gained  and  held.  To  this  point  he  called  his 
reserves,  and  asked  for  reinforcements,  which  were  sent;  but 
the  space  was  narrow,  and  it  was  not  well  to  crowd  the  men, 
as  the  enemy's  artillery  and  musketry  fire  swept  the  approach 
to  his  position,  giving  him  great  advantage.  As  soon  as  Gen- 
eral Corse  had  made  his  preparations,  he  assaulted,  and  a 
close,  severe  contest  ensued,  which  lasted  more  than  an  hour, 
gaining  and  losing  ground,  but  never  the  position  first  obtained, 
from  which  the  enemy  in  vain  attempted  to  drive  him. 
General  Morgan  L.  Smith  kept  gaining  ground  on  the  left 
spurs  of  Missionary  Ridge,  and  Colonel  Loomis  got  abreast 
of  the  tunnel  and  railroad  embankment  on  his  side,  drawing 
the  enemy's  fire,  and  to  that  extent  relieving  the  assaulting 
party  on  the  hill-crest.  Captain  Callender  had  four  of  his 
guns  on  General  Ewing's  hill,  and  Captain  Woods  his  Napo- 
leon battery  on  General  Lightburn's;  also,  two  guns  of  Dil- 
lon's battery  were  with  Colonel  Alexander's  brigade.  All 
directed  their  fire  as  carefully  as  possible,  to  clear  the  hill  to 
our  front,  without  endangering  our  own  men.  The  fight 
raged  furiously  about  10  A.  M.,  when  General  Corse  received 
a  severe  wound,  was  brought  off  the  field,  and  the  command 
of  the  brigade  and  of  the  assault  at  that  key-point  devolved 
on  that  fine  young,  gallant  officer,  Colonel  Walcutt,  of  the 
Forty-sixth  Ohio,  who  fullfiled  his  part  manfully.  He  con- 
tinued the  contest,  pressing  forward  at  all  points.  Colonel 
Loomis  had  made  good  progress  to  the  right,  and  about  2  p. 
M.  General  John  E.  Smith,  judging  the  battle  to  be  most 


238  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

severe  on  the  hill,  and  being  required  to  support  General 
Ewing,  ordered  up  Colonel  Raum's  and  General  Matthias' 
brigades  across  the  field  to  the  summit  that  was  being  fought 
for.  They  moved  up  under  a  heavy  fire  of  cannon  and  mus- 
ketry, and  joined  Colonel  Walcutt;  but  the  crest  was  so  nar- 
row that  they  necessarily  occupied  the  west  face  of  the  hill. 
The  enemy,  at  the  time  being  massed  in  great  strength  in 
the  tunnel-gorge,  moved  a  large  force  under  cover  of  the 
ground  and  the  thick  bushes,  and  suddenly  appeared  on  the 
right  rear  of  this  command.  The  suddenness  of  the  attack 
disconcerted  the  men,  exposed  as  they  were  in  the  open  field; 
they  fell  back  in  some  disorder  to  the  lower  edge  of  the  field, 
and  reformed.  These  two  brigades  were  in  the  nature  of 
supports,  and  did  not  constitute  a  part  of  the  real  attack. 
The  movement,  seen  from  Chattanooga  five  miles  off  with 
spy-glasses,  gave  rise  to  the  report,  which  even  General 
Meigs  has  repeated,  that  we  were  repulsed  on  the  left.  It 
was  not  so.  The  real  attacking  columns  of  General  Corse, 
Colonel  Loomis,  and  General  Smith  were  not  repulsed. 
They  engaged  in  a  close  struggle  all  day  persistently,  stub- 
bornly, and  well.  When  the  two  reserve  brigades  of  General 
John  E.  Smith  fell  back  as  described,  the  enemy  made  a  show 
of  pursuit,  but  were  in  their  turn  caught  in  flank  by  the  well- 
directed  fire  of  our  brigade  on  the  wooded  crest,  and  hastily 
sought  cover  behind  the  hill. 

Thus  matters  stood  about  3  p.  M.  The  day  was  bright 
and  clear,  and  the  amphitheater  of  Chattanooga  lay  in  beauty 
at  our  feet.  I  had  watched  for  the  attack  of  General  Thomas 
early  in  the  day. 

"Column  after  column  of  the  enemy  was  streaming  toward 
me;  gun  after  gun  poured  its  concentric  shot  on  us,  from 
every  hill  and  spur  that  gave  a  view  of  any  part  of  the  ground 
held  by  us.  An  occasional  shot  from  Fort  Wood  and  Orchard 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  239 

Knoll,  and  some  musketry-fire  and  artillery  over  about  Look- 
out Mountain,  was  all  that  I  could  detect  on  our  side;  but 
about  3  P.  M.  I  noticed  the  white  line  of  musketry-fire  in 
front  of  Orchard  Knoll  extending  farther  and  farther  right,  and 
left,  and  on.  We  could  only  hear  a  faint  echo  of  sound,  but 
enough  was  seen  to  satisfy  me  that  General  Thomas  was  at 
last  moving  on  the  center.  I  knew  that  our  attack  had  drawn 
vast  masses  of  the  enemy  to  our  flank,  and  felt  sure  of  the 
result.  Some  guns  which  had  been  firing  on  us  all  day  were 
silent,  or  were  turned  in  a  different  direction. 

"The  advancing  line  of  musketry-fire  from  Orchard  Knoll 
disappeared  to  us  behind  a  spur  of  the  hill,  and  could  no 
longer  be  seen;  and  it  was  not  until  night  closed  in  that  I 
knew  that  the  troops  in  Chattanooga  had  swept  across  Mis- 
sionary Ridge  and  broken  the  enemy's  center.  Of  course,  the 
victory  was  won,  and  pursuit  was  the  next  step. 

"I  ordered  General  Morgan  L.  Smith  to  feel  to  the  tunnel, 
and  it  was  found  vacant,  save  by  the  dead  and  wounded  of  our 
own  and  the  enemy  commingled.  The  reserve  of  General 
Jeff.  C.  Davis  was  ordered  to  march  at  once  by  the  pontoon 
bridge  across  Chickamauga  Creek,  at  its  mouth,  and  push 
forward  for  the  depot. 

"General  Howard  had  reported  to  me  in  the  early  part  of 
the  day,  with  the  remainder  of  his  army  corps  (the  Eleventh,) 
and  had  been  posted  to  connect  my  left  with  Chickamauga 
Creek.  He  was  ordered  to  repair  an  old,  broken  bridge  about 
two  miles  up  the  Chickamauga,  and  to  follow  General  Davis 
at  4  A.  M.,  and  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  was  ordered  to 
follow  at  daylight.  But  General  Howard  found  that  to  repair 
the  bridge  was  more  of  a  task  than  was  at  first  supposed,  and 
we  were  all  compelled  to  cross  the  Chickamauga  on  the  new 
pontoon  bridge  at  its  mouth.  By  about  1 1  A.  M.  General 
Jeff.  C.  Davis'  division  reached  the  depot,  just  in  time  to 


24O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

see  it  in  flames.  He  found  the  enemy  occupying  two  hills, 
partially  intrenched,  just  beyond  the  depot.  These  he  soon 
drove  away.  The  depot  presented  a  scene  of  desolation  that 
war  alone  exhibits — corn-meal  and  corn  in  huge  burning 
piles,  broken  wagons,  abandoned  caissons,  two  thirty-two- 
pounder  rifled-guns  with  carriages  burned,  pieces  of  pon- 
toons, balks  and  chesses,  etc. ,  destined  doubtless  for  the  fa- 
mous invasion  of  Kentucky,  and  all  manner  of  things,  burn- 
ing and  broken.  Still,  the  enemy  kindly  left  us  a  good  sup- 
ply of  forage  for  our  horses,  and  meal,  beans,  etc.,  for  our 
men. 

"Pausing  but  a  short  while,  we  passed  on,  the  road  filled 
with  broken  wagons  and  abandoned  caissons,  till  night. 
Just  as  the  head  of  the  column  emerged  from  a  dark,  miry 
swamp,  we  encountered  the  rear-guard  of  the  retreating  en- 
emy. The  fight  was  sharp,  but  the  night  closed  in  so  dark 
that  we  could  not  move.  General  Grant  came  up  to  us  there. 
At  daylight  we  resumed  the  march,  and  at  Graysville,  where  a 
good  bridge  spanned  the  Chickamauga,  we  found  the  corps 
of  General  Palmer  on  the  south  bank,  who  informed  us  that 
General  Hooker  was  on  a  road  still  farther  south,  and  we 
could  hear  his  guns  near  Ringgold. 

"As  the  roads  were  filled  with  all  the  troops  they  could  pos- 
sibly accommodate,  I  turned  to  the  east,  to  fulfill  another 
part  of  the  general  plan,  viz.,  to  break  up  all  communication 
between  Bragg  and  Longstreet. 

"  We  had  all  sorts  of  rumors  as  to  the  latter,  but  it  was  man- 
ifest that  we  should  interpose  a  proper  force  between  these 
two  armies.  I  therefore  directed  General  Howard  to  move 
to  Parker's  Gap,  and  thence  send  rapidly  a  competent  force 
to  Red  Clay,  or  the  Council-Ground,  there  to  destroy  a  large 
section  of  the  railroad  which  connects  Dalton  and  Cleveland. 
This  work  was  most  successfully  and  fully  accomplished  that 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  241 

day.  The  division  of  General  Jeff.  C.  Davis  was  moved  close 
up  to  Ringgold,  to  assist  General  Hooker  if  needed,  and  the 
Fifteenth  Corps  was  held  at  Graysville  for  anything  that 
might  turn  up.  About  noon  I  had  a  message  from  General 
Hooker,  saying  he  had  had  a  pretty  hard  fight  at  the  moun- 
tain-pass just  beyond  Ringgold,  and  he  wanted  me  to  come 
forward  to  turn  the  position.  He  was  not  aware  at  the  time 
that  Howard,  by  moving  through  Parker's  Gap  toward  Red 
Clay,  had  already  turned  it.  So  I  rode  forward  to  Ringgold 
in  person,  and  found  the  enemy  had  already  fallen  back  to 
Tunnel  Hill.  He  was  already  out  of  the  valley  of  the  Chicka- 
mauga,  and  on  ground  whence  the  waters  flow  to  the  Coosa. 
He  was  out  of  Tennessee. 

"I  found  General  Grant  at  Ringgold,  and,  after  some  ex- 
planations as  to  breaking  up  the  railroad  from  Ringgold  back 
to  the  State  line,  as  soon  as  some  cars  loaded  with  wounded 
men  could  be  pushed  back  to  Chickamauga  depot,  I  was  or- 
dered to  move  slowly  and  leisurely  back  to  Chattanooga. 

"On  the  following  day  the  Fifteenth  Corps  destroyed  abso- 
lutely and  effectually  the  railroad  from  a  point  half-way  be- 
tween Ringgold  and  Graysville,  back  to  the  State  line;  and 
General  Grant,  coming  to  Graysville,  consented  that,  instead 
of  returning  direct  to  Chattanooga,  I  might  send  back  all  my 
artillery  wagons  and  impediments,  and  make  a  circuit  by 
the  north  as  far  as  the  Hiawassee  River. 

"Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  November  29th,  General 
Howard  moved  from  Parker's  Gap  to  Cleveland,  General 
Davis  by  way  of  McDaniel's  Gap,  and  General  Blair  with 
two  divisions  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  byway  of  Julien'sGap, 
all  meeting  at  Cleveland  that  night.  Here  another  good 

break  was  made  in  the  Dalton  &  Cleveland   road.      On  the 

• 

3<Dth  the   army   moved  to   Charleston,  General   Howard  ap- 
proaching so  rapidly  that  the  enemy  evacuated  with  haste, 
16 


242  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

leaving  the  bridge  but  partially  damaged,  and  five  car-loads 
of  flour  and  provisions  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Hiawassee. 

"This  was  to  have  been  the  limit  of  our  operations.  Offi- 
cers and  men  had  brought  no  baggage  or  provisions,  and  the 
weather  was  bitter  cold.  I  had  already  reached  the  town  of 
Charleston,  when  General  Wilson  arrived  with  a  letter  from 
General  Grant,  at  Chattanooga,  informing  me  that  the  latest 
authentic  accounts  from  Knoxville  were  to  the  27th,  at  which 
time  General  Burnside  was  completely  invested,  and  had 
provisions  only  to  include  the  3d  of  December;  that  General 
Granger  had  left  Chattanooga  for  Knoxville  by  the  river-road, 
with  a  steamboat  following  him  in  the  river;  but  he  feared 
that  General  Granger  could  not  reach  Knoxville  in  time,  and 
ordered  me  to  take  command  of  all  troops  moving  for  the 
relief  of  Knoxville,  and  hasten  to  General  Burnside.  Seven 
days  before,  we  had  left  our  camps  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Tennessee  with  two  days'  rations,  without  a  change  of  cloth- 
ing— stripped  for  the  fight,  with  but  a  single  blanket  or  coat 
per  man,  from  myself  to  the  private  included. 

"Of  course,  we  then  had  no  provisions  save  what  we  gath- 
ered by  the  road,  and  were  ill  supplied  for  such  a  march.  But 
we  learned  that  twelve  thousand  of  our  fellow-soldiers  were 
beleaguered  in  the  mountain  town  of  Knoxville,  eighty-four 
miles  distant;  that  they  needed  relief,  and  must  have  it  in 
three  days.  This  was  enough — and  it  had  to  be  done.  Gen- 
eral Howard  that  night  repaired  and  planked  the  railroad 
bridge,  and  at  daylight  the  army  passed  over  the  Hiawassee 
and  marched  to  Athens,  fifteen  miles.  I  had  supposed  rightly 
that  General  Granger  was  about  the  mouth  of  the  Hiawassee, 
and  had  sent  him  notice  of  my  orders;  that  General  Grant 
had  sent  me  a  copy  of  his  written  instructions,  which  were  full 
and  complete,  and  that  he  must  push  for  Kingston,  near  which 
we  would  make  a  junction.  But  by  the  time  I  reached 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  243 

Athens  I  had  better  studied  the  geography,  and  sent  him 
orders,  which  found  him  at  Decatur,  that  Kingston  was  out 
of  our  way;  that  he  should  send  his  boat  to  Kingston,  but  with 
his  command  strike  across  to  Philadelphia,  and  report  to  me 
there.  I  had  but  a  small  force  of  cavalry,  which  was,  at  the 
time  of  my  receipt  of  General  Grant's  orders,  scouting  over 
about  Benton  and  Columbus.  I  left  my  aid,  Major  Mc- 
Coy, at  Charleston,  to  communicate  with  this  cavalry  and 
hurry  it  forward.  It  overtook  me  in  the  night  at  Athens. 

"On  the  2d  of  December  the  army  moved  rapidly  north 
toward  Loudon,  twenty-six  miles  distant.  About  1 1  A.  M.  the 
cavalry  passed  to  the  head  of  the  column,  was  ordered  to  push 
to  Loudon,  and,  if  possible,  to  save  a  pontoon  bridge  across  the 
Tennessee,  held  by  a  brigade  of  the  enemy  commanded  by 
General  Vaughn.  The  cavalry  moved  with  such  rapidity  as 
to  capture  every  picket;  but  the  brigade  of  Vaughn  had  ar- 
tillery in  position,  covered  by  earthworks,  and  displayed  a 
force  too  respectable  to  be  carried  by  a  cavalry  dash — so  that 
darkness  closed  in  before  General  Howard's  infantry  got  up. 
The  enemy  abandoned  the  place  in  the  night,  destroying  the 
pontoons,  running  three  locomotives  and  forty-eight  cars  into 
the  Tennessee  River,  and  abandoned  much  provision,  four 
guns,  and  other  material,  which  General  Howard  took  at 
daylight.  But  the  bridge  was  gone,  and  we  were  forced  to 
turn  east  and  trust  to  General  Burnside's  bridge  at  Knoxville. 
It  was  all-important  that  General  Burnside  should  have  no- 
tice of  our  coming,  and  but  one  day  of  the  time  remained. 

"Accordingly,  at  Philadelphia,  during  the  night  of  the  2d  of 
December,  I  sent  my  aid  (Major  Audenried)  forward  to  Colo- 
nel Long,  commanding  the  brigade  of  cavalry  at  Loudon,  to 
explain  to  him  how  all-important  it  was  that  notice  of  our  ap- 
proach should  reach  General  Burnside  within  twenty-four 
hours,  ordering  him  to  select  the  best  materials  of  his  com- 


244  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

mand,  to  start  at  once,  ford  the  Little  Tennessee,  and  push 
into  Knoxville  at  whatever  cost  of  life  and  horse-flesh.  Ma- 
jor Audenried  was  ordered  to  go  along.  The  distance  to  be 
traveled  was  about  forty  miles,  and  the  roads  villainous. 

Before  day  they  were  off,  and  at  daylight  the  Fifteenth 
Corps  was  turned  from  Philadelphia  for  the  Little  Tennessee 
at  Morgantown,  where  my  maps  represented  the  river  as 
being  very  shallow;  but  it  was  found  too  deep  for  fording, 
and  the  water  was  freezing  cold — width  two  hundred  and 
forty  yards,  depth  from  two  to  five  feet;  horses  could  ford, 
but  artillery  and  men  could  not.  A  bridge  was  indispensable. 
General  Wilson,  who  accompanied  me,  undertook  to  super- 
intend the  bridge,  and  I  am  under  many  obligations  to  him,  as 
I  was  without  an  engineer,  having  sent  Captain  Jenny  back 
from  Graysville  to  survey  our  field  of  battle.  We  had  our 
pioneers,  but  only  such  tools  as  axes,  picks,  and  spades.  Gen- 
eral Wilson,  working  partly  with  cut  wood  and  partly  with 
square  trestles  (made  of  the  houses  of  the  late  town  of  Morgan- 
town),  progressed  apace,  and  by  dark  of  December  4th,  troops 
and  animals  passed  over  the  bridge,  and  by  daybreak  of  the  5th 
the  Fifteenth  Corps  (General  Blair's),  was  over,  and  General 
Granger's  and  Davis' s  divisions  were  ready  to  pass;  but  the 
diagonal  bracing  was  imperfect  for  want  of  spikes,  and  the 
bridge  broke,  causing  delay.  I  had  ordered  General  Blair  to 
move  out  on  the  Marysville  road  five  miles,  there  to  await 
notice  that  General  Granger  was  on  a  parallel  road  abreast 
of  him,  and  in  person  I  was  at  a  house  where  the  roads 
parted,  when  a  messenger  rode  up,  bringing  me  a  few  words 
from  General  Burnside,  to  the  effect  that  Colonel  Long  had 
arrived  at  Knoxville  with  his  cavalry,  and  that  all  was  well 
with  him  there;  Longstreet  still  lay  before  the  place,  but 
there  were  symptoms  of  his  speedy  departure. 

"I  felt  that  I  had  accomplished  the   first  great   step  in  the 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  245 

problem  for  the  relief  of  General  Burnside's  army,  but  still 
urged  on  the  work.  As  soon  as  the  bridge  was  mended,  all 
the  troops  moved  forward.  General  Howard  had  marched 
from  Loudon,  had  found  a  pretty  good  ford  for  his  horses 
and  wagons  at  Davis',  seven  miles  below  Morgantown,  and 
had  made  an  ingenious  bridge  of  the  wagons  left  by  General 
Vaughn  at  Loudon,  on  which  to  pass  his  men.  He  marched 
by  Unitia  and  Louisville.  On  the  night  of  the  5th,  all  the 
heads  of  columns  communicated  at  Marysville,  where  I  met 
Major  Van  Buren,  of  General  Burnside's  staff,  who  an- 
nounced that  Longstreet  had  the  night  before  retreated  on 
the  Rutledge,  Rogersville,  and  Bristol  road,  leading  to  Vir- 
ginia; that  General  Burnside's  cavalry  was  on  his  heels;  and 
that  the  general  desired  to  see  me  in  person  as  soon  as  I 
could  come  to  Knoxville.  I  ordered  all  the  troops  to  halt 
and  rest,  except  the  two  divisions  of  General  Granger,  which 
were  ordered  to  move  forward  to  Little  River,  and  General' 
Granger  to  report  in  person  to  General  Burnside  for  orders. 
His  was  the  force  originally  designed  to  reinforce  General 
Burnside,  and  it  was  eminently  proper  that  it  should  join  in 
the  stern  chase  after  Longstreet. 

"On  the  morning  of  December  6th,  I  rode  from  Marysville 
into  Knoxville,  and  met  General  Burnside.  General  Granger 
arrived  later  in  the  day.  We  examined  his  lines  of  fortifica- 
tions, which  were  a  wonderful  production,  for  the  short  time 
allowed,  in  their  selection  of  ground  and  construction  of  work. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  they  were  nearly  impregnable.  We 
examined  the  redoubt  named  'Sanders,'  where,  on  the  Sun- 
day previous,  three  brigades  of  the  enemy  had  assaulted  and 
met  a  bloody  repulse.  Now  all  was  peaceful  and  quiet; 
but  a  few  hours  before,  the  deadly  bullet  sought  its  victim 
all  round  about  that  hilly  barrier. 

"The  general  explained  to  me  fully  and  frankly  what  he  had 


246  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

done,  and  what  he  proposed  to  do.  He  asked  of  me  nothing 
but  General  Granger's  command;  and  suggested,  in  view  of 
the  large  force  I  had  brought  from  Chattanooga,  that  I  should 
return  with  due  expedition  to  the  line  of  the  Hiawassee,  lest 
Bragg,  reinforced,  might  take  advantage  of  our  absence  to 
resume  the  offensive.  I  asked  him  to  reduce  this  to  writing, 
which  he  did,  and  I  here  introduce  it  as  part  of  my  report: 

"'HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  OHIO,  ) 
KNOXVILLE,  December  7,  1863.    ) 

iu Major-General W.  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding,  etc. 

'"  GENERAL:  I  desire  to  express  to  you  and  your  command 
my  most  hearty  thanks  and  gratitude  for  your  promptness  in 
coming  to  our  relief  during  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  and  I  am 
satisfied  your  approach  served  to  raise  the  siege.  The  emer- 
gency having  passed,  I  do  not  deem,  for  the  present,  any 
other  portion  of  your  command  but  the  corps  of  General 
Granger  necessary  for  operations  in  this  section;  and,  inas- 
much as  General  Grant  has  weakened  the  forces  immediately 
with  him  in  order  to  relieve  us,  thereby  rendering  the  posi- 
tion of  General  Thomas  less  secure,  I  deem  it  advisable  that 
all  the  troops  now  here,  save  those  commanded  by  General 
Granger,  should  return  at  once  to  within  supporting  distance 
of  the  forces  in  front  of  Bragg' s  army.  In  behalf  of  my 
command,  I  desire  again  to  thank  you  and  your  command 
for  the  kindness  you  have  done  us. 

"'I  am,  general,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
"'A.  E.  BURNSIDE,  Major-General  commanding. '" 

"Accordingly,  having  seen  General  Burnside's  forces  move 
out  of  Knoxville  in  pursuit  of  Longstreet,  and  General  Gran- 
ger's move  in,  I  put  in  motion  my  own  command  to  return. 
General  Howard  was  ordered  to  move,  via  Davis'  Ford 
and  Sweetwater,  to  Athens,  with  a  guard  forward  at  Charles- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  247 

ton,  to  hold  and  repair  the  bridge  which  the  enemy  had  re- 
taken after  our  passage  up.  General  Jeff.  C.  Davis  moved 
to  Columbus,  on  the  Hiawassee,  via  Madisonville,  and  the 
two  divisions  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  moved  to  Tellico  Plains, 
to  cover  a  movement  of  cavalry  across  the  mountains  into 
Georgia,  to  overtake  a  wagon  train  which  had  dodged  us  on 
our  way  up,  and  had  escaped  by  way  of  Murphy.  Subse- 
quently, on  a  report  from  General  Howard  that  the  enemy 
held  Charleston,  I  diverted  General  Ewing's  division  to 
Athens,  and  went  in  person  to  Tellico  with  General  Morgan 
L.  Smith's  division.  By  the  9th  all  our  troops  were  in  posi- 
tion, and  we  held  the  rich  country  between  the  Little  Ten- 
nessee and  Hiawassee.  The  cavalry,  under  Colonel  Long, 
passed  the  mountain  at  Tellico  and  proceeded  about  seven- 
teen miles  beyond  Murphy,  when  Colonel  Long,  deeming  his 
farther  pursuit  of  the  wagon  train  useless,  returned  on  the 
1 2th  to  Tellico.  I  then  ordered  him  and  the  division  of  Gen- 
eral Morgan  L.  Smith  to  move  to  Charleston,  to  which  point 
I  had  previously  ordered  the  corps  of  General  Howard. 

"On  the  I4th  of  December  all  of  my  command  in  the  field 
lay  along  the  Hiawassee.  Having  communicated  to  General 
Grant  the  actual  state  of  affairs,  I  received  orders  to  leave  on 
the  line  of  the  Hiawassee,  all  the  cavalry,  and  come  to  Chat- 
tanooga with  the  rest  of  my  command.  I  left  the  brigade  of 
cavalry  commanded  by  Colonel  Long,  reinforced  by  the 
Fifth  Ohio  Cavalry,  (Lieutenant-Colonel  Heath) — the  only 
cavalry  properly  belonging  to  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps — at 
Charleston,  and  with  the  remainder  moved  by  easy  marches, 
by  Cleveland  and  Tyner's  Depot,  into  Chattanooga,  where  I 
received  in  person  from  General  Grant  orders  to  transfer  back 
to  their  appropriate  commands  the  corps  of  General  Howard 
and  the  division  commanded  by  General  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  and  to 
conduct  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  to  its  new  field  of  operations. 


248  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"It  will  thus  appear  that  we  have  been  constantly  in  motion 
since  our  departure  from  the  Big  Black,  in  Mississippi,  until 
the  present  moment.  I  have  been  unable  to  receive  from 
subordinate  commanders  the  usual  full,  detailed  reports  of 
events,  and  have  therefore  been  compelled  to  make  up  this 
report  from  my  own  personal  memory;  but,  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, subordinate  reports  will  be  received  and  duly  for- 
warded. 

"In  reviewing  the  facts,  I  must  do  justice  to  the  men  of  my 
command  for  the  patience,  cheerfulness,  and  courage  which 
officers  and  men  have  displayed  throughout,  in  battle,  on  the 
march,  and  in  camp.  For  long  periods,  without  regular  ra- 
tions or  supplies  of  any  kind,  they  have  marched  through 
mud  and  over  rocks,  sometimes  barefooted,  without  a  murmur. 
Without  a  moment's  rest  after  a  march  of  over  four  hundred 
miles,  without  sleep  for  three  successive  nights,  we  crossed  the 
Tennessee,  fought  our  part  of  the  battle  of  Chattanooga,  pur- 
sued the  enemy  out  of  Tennessee,  and  then  turned  more  than 
a  hundred  and  twenty  miles  north  and  compelled  Longstreet 
to  raise  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  which  gave  so  much  anxiety 
to  the  whole  country.  It  is  hard  to  realize  the  importance 
of  these  events  without  recalling  the  memory  of  the  general 
feeling  which  pervaded  all  minds  at  Chattanooga  prior  to  our 
arrival.  I  cannot  speak  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  without 
a  seeming  vanity;  but  as  I  am  no  longer  its  commander,  I 
assert  that  there  is  no  better  body  of  soldiers  in  America  than 
it.  I  wish  all  to  feel  a  just  pride  in  its  real  honors. 

"To  General  Howard  arid  his  command,  to  General  Jeff.  C. 
Davis  and  his,  I  am  more  than  usually  indebted  for  the  in- 
telligence of  commanders  and  fidelity  of  commands.  The 
brigade  of  Colonel  Bushbeck,  belonging  to  the  Eleventh 
Corps,  which  was  the  first  to  come  out  of  Chattanooga  to  my 
flank,  fought  at  the  Tunnel  Hill,  in  connection  with  General 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  249 

Ewing's  division,  and  displayed  a  courage  almost  amounting 
to  rashness.  Following  the  enemy  almost  to  the  tunnel  gorge, 
it  lost  many  valuable  lives,  prominent  among  them  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Taft,  spoken  of  as  a  most  gallant  soldier. 

"In  General  Howard  throughout  I  found  a  polished  and 
Christian  gentleman,  exhibiting  the  highest  and  most  chivalric 
traits  of  the  soldier.  General  Davis  handled  his  division 
with  artistic  skill,  more  especial  at  the  moment  we  encoun- 
tered the  enemy's  rear-guard,  near  Graysville,  at  night-fall. 
I  must  award  to  this  division  the  credit  of  the  best  order  dur- 
ing our  movement  through  East  Tennessee,  when  long 
marches  and  the  necessity  of  foraging  to  the  right  and  left 
gave  some  reason  for  disordered  ranks. 

"Inasmuch  as  exception  may  be  taken  to  my  explanation  of 
the  temporary  confusion,  during  the  battle  of  Chattanooga, 
of  the  two  brigades  of  General  Matthias  and  Colonel  Raum, 
I  will  here  state  that  I  saw  the  whole,  and  attach  no  blame 
to  anyone.  Accidents  will  happen  in  battle,  as  elsewhere; 
and  at  the  point  where  they  so  manfully  went  to  relieve  the 
pressure  on  other  parts  of  our  assaulting  line,  they  exposed 
themselves  unconsciously  to  an  enemy  vastly  superior  in  force, 
and  favored  by  the  shape  of  the  ground.  Had  that  enemy 
come  out  on  equal  terms,  those  brigades  would  have  shown 
their  mettle,  which  has  been  tried  more  than  once  before  and 
stood  the  test  of  fire.  They  reformed  their  ranks,  and  were 
ready  to  support  General  Ewing's  division  in  a  very  few  min- 
utes; and  the  circumstance  would  have  hardly  called  for  no- 
tice on  my  part,  had  not  others  reported  what  was  seen  from 
Chattanooga,  a  distance  of  nearly  five  miles,  from  where 
could  only  be  seen  the  troops  in  the  open  field  in  which  this 
affair  occurred. 

"Among  the  killed  were  some  of  our  most  valuable  officers: 
Colonels  Putnam,  Ninety-third  Illinois,  O'Meara,  Nineti- 


25O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

eth  Illinois,  and  Torrence,  Thirtieth  Iowa,  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Taft,  of  the  Eleventh  Corps,  and  Major  Bushnell,  Thir- 
teenth Illinois. 

"Among  the  wounded  are  Brigadier-Generals  Giles  A.  Smith, 
Corse,  and  Matthias;  Colonel  Raum;  Colonel  Waugelin, 
Twelfth  Missouri;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Partridge,  Thirteenth 
Illinois;  Major  P.  I.  Welsh,  Fifty-sixth  Illinois;  and  Major 
Nathan  McAlla,  Tenth  Iowa. 

"Among  the  missing  is  Lieutenant-Colonel  Archer,  Seven- 
teenth Iowa. 

"My  report  is  already  so  long,  that  I  must  forbear  mention- 
ing acts  of  individual  merit.  These  will  be  recorded  in  the 
reports  of  division  commanders,  which  I  will  cheerfully  in- 
dorse; but  I  must  say  that  it  is  but  justice  that  colonels  of 
regiments,  who  have  so  long  and  so  well  commanded  brig- 
ades, as  in  the  following  cases,  should  be  commissioned  to 
the  grade  which  they  have  rilled  with  so  much  usefulness  and 
credit  to  the  public  service,  viz. :  Colonel  J.  R.  Cockerill, 
Seventieth  Ohio;  Colonel  J.  M.  Loomis,  Twenty-sixth  Illi- 
nois; Colonel  C.  C.  Walcutt,  Forty-sixth  Ohio;  Colonel  J. 
A.  Williamson,  Fourth  Iowa;  Colonel  G.  B.  Raum,  Fifty- 
sixth  Illinois;  Colonel  J.  I.  Alexander,  Fifty-ninth  Indiana. 

"My  personal  staff,  as  usual,  have  served  their  country  with 
fidelity,  and  credit  to  themselves,  throughout  these  events, 
and  have  received  my  personal  thanks. 

"Inclosed  you  will  please  find  a  map  of  that  part  of  the  bat- 
tle-field of  Chattanooga  fought  over  by  the  troops   under  my 
command,  surveyed  and  drawn  by  Captain    Jenny,  engineer 
on  my  staff.      I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  servant. 
"W.   T.   SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding" 

"It  is  fitting. to  place  here  the  following  tributes  to  Gen- 
eral Sherman  and  his  army: 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  2$I 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION,  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
CHATTANOOGA,  TENNESSEE,  November  25,  1863.    \ 

"Major-General  SHERMAN. 

"GENERAL:  No  doubt  you  witnessed  the  handsome  man- 
ner in  which  Thomas'  troops  carried  Missionary  Ridge  this 
afternoon,  and  can  feel  a  just  pride,  too,  in  the  part  taken 
by  the  forces  under  your  command  in  taking  first  so  much  of 
the  same  range  of  hills,  and  then  in  attracting  the  attention 
of  so  many  of  the  enemy  as  to  make  Thomas'  part  certain 
of  success.  The  next  thing  now  will  be  to  relieve  Burnside. 
I  have  heard  from  him  to  the  evening  of  the  23d.  At  that 
time  he  had  from  ten  to  twelve  days'  supplies,  and  spoke 
hopefully  of  being  able  to  hold  out  that  length  of  time. 

"My  plan  is  to  move  your  forces  out  gradually  until  they 
reach  the  railroad  between  Cleveland  and  Dalton.  Granger 
will  move  up  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee  with  a  column 
of  twenty  thousand  men,  taking  no  wagons,  or  but  few  with 
him.  His  men  will  carry  four  days'  rations,  and  the  steamer 
Chattanooga,  loaded  with  rations,  will  accompany  the  ex- 
pediton. 

"I  take  it  for  granted  that  Bragg' s  entire  force  has  left. 
If  not,  of  course,  the  first  thing  is  to  dispose  of  him.  If 
he  has  gone,  the  only  thing  necessary  to  do  to-morrow  will  be 
to  send  out  a  reconnoissance  to  ascertain  the  whereabouts  of 
the  enemy.  Yours  truly, 

"U.S.  GRANT,  Major-General." 

"P.  S. — On  reflection,  I  think  we  will  push  Bragg  with  all 
our  strength  to-morrow,  and  try  if  we  cannot  cut  off  a  good 
portion  of  his  rear  troops  and  trains.  His  men  have  mani- 
fested a  strong  disposition  to  desert  for  some  time  past,  and 
we  will  now  give  them  a  chance.  I  will  instruct  Thomas  ac- 
cordingly. Move  the  advance  force  early,  on  the  most  east- 
erly road  taken  by  the  enemy.  U.  S.  G." 


252  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss. ,  ) 
CHATTANOOGA,  TENNESSEE,  November  29,  1863.  ( 

"Major-General,  W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

"News  is  received  from  Knoxville  to  the  morning  of  the 
2/th.  At  that  time  the  place  was  still  invested,  but  the  at- 
tack on  it  was  not  vigorous.  Longstreet  evidently  determined 
to  starve  the  garrsion  out.  Granger  is  on  the  way  to  Burn- 
side's  relief,  but  I  have  lost  all  faith  in  his  energy  or  capacity 
to  manage  an  expedition  of  the  importance  of  this  one.  I 
am  inclined  to  think,  therefore,  I  shall  have  to  send  you. 
Push  as  rapidly  as  you  can  to  the  Hiawassee,  and  determine 
for  yourself  what  force  to  take  with  you  from  that  point. 
Granger  has  his  corps  with  him,  from  which  you  will  select 
in  conjunction  with  the  force  now  with  you.  In  plain  words, 
you  will  assume  command  of  all  the  forces  now  moving  up 
the  Tennessee,  including  the  garrison  at  Kingston,  and  from 
that  force  organize  what  you  deem  proper  to  relieve  Burnside. 
The  balance  send  back  to  Chattanooga.  Granger  has  a  boat 
loaded  with  provisions,  which  you  can  issue,  and  return  the 
boat.  I  will  have  another  loaded,  to  follow  you.  Use,  of 
course,  as  sparingly  as  possible  from  the  rations  taken  with 
you,  and  subsist  off  the  country  all  you  can. 

"It  is  expected  that  Foster  is  moving,  by  this  time,  from 
Cumberland  Gap  on  Knoxville.  I  do  not  know  what  force 
he  will  have  with  him,  but  presume  it  will  range  from  three 
thousand  five  hundred  to  five  thousand.  I  leave  this  matter 
to  you,  knowing  that  you  will  do  better  acting  upon  your 
discretion  than  you  could  trammeled  with  instructions.  I  will 
only  add,  that  the  last  advices  from  Burnside  himself  indi- 
cated his  ability  to  hold  out  with  rations  only  to  about  the 
3d  of  December. 

"Very  respectfully, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Major-General  commanding" 


:E,  ) 

-     f 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  253 

[GENERAL  ORDER  No.  68.] 

DEPARTMENT,  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S  OFFICE, 
WASHINGTON,  February  21,  1864. 

"PUBLIC  RESOLUTION — No.  12. 

"Joint  resolution  tendering  the  thanks  of  Congress  to  Major- 
General  W.  T.  Sherman  and  others. 

"Be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
That  the  thanks  of  Congress  and  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  are  due,  and  that  the  same  are  hereby  tendered,  to 
Major-General  W.  T.  Sherman,  commander  of  the  Depart- 
ment and  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  the  officers  and  sol- 
diers who  served  under  him,  for  their  gallant  and  arduous 
services  in  marching  to  the  relief  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, and  for  their  gallantry  and  heroism  in  the  battle  of 
Chattanooga,  which  contributed  in  a  great  degree  to  the 
success  of  our  arms  in  that  glorious  victory. 

"Approved  February  19,  1864. 
"By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War: 

"E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  Assistant  Adjutant-General" 

This  closed  the  campaigns  of  1863,  and  on  the  iQthof  De- 
cember, General  Sherman  gave  orders  for  the  distribution  of 
the  four  divisions  of  the  I5th  Corps,  for  the  repairing  of 
roads  and  making  ready  for  the  campaign  of  the  following 
year.  There  had  been  so  much  gained  through  the  opera- 
tions of  the  western  army  that  it  was  confidently  hoped  that 
another  year  would  see  the  war  ended.  It  was  with  this 
object  in  view  that  the  two  commanders  at  a  meeting  at 
Nashville  on  the  2ist  of  December  1863,  determined  upon 
the  Meridian  campaign  and  Bank's  expedition  up  the  Red 
River  to  Shreveport.  It  was  believed  these  movements 


254  LIFE    OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

would  force  such  a  diversion  in  the  enemy's  actions  as  to 
prevent  a  too  great  consolidation  of  troops. 

There  was  an  incident  that  occurred  during  the  campaign, 
illustrative  of  General  Sherman's  promptness  and  ready  sym- 
pathy. Riding  along  not  far  from  camp  near  Chattanooga 
very  near  dusk,  we  came  upon  a  young  man  in  civilian's 
clothes  who  had  apparently  just  dismounted  from  his  own 
horse  and  was  standing  gazing  intently  at  a  dead  animal  lying 
by  the  road  side.  It  was  but  a  mere  lad,  perhaps  eighteen 
years  old,  but  there  was  something  in  his  attitude  that  at- 
tracted General  Sherman's  attention.  The  general  beckoned 
to  me  and  requested  me  to  call  the  young  stranger.  As  I 
rode  up  to  him,  the  lad  seemed  totally  unconscious  of  my  pres- 
ence until  I  touched  him.  He  turned  on  me  a  pair  of  beautiful 
dark  eyes  that  were  filling  with  tears  as  he  asked  me  if  I 
knew  the  way  to  camp,  telling  me  that  he  had  lost  his  way. 
I  told  him  that  General  Sherman  wished  to  speak  with  him, 
and  that  he  was  waiting  for  him  at  the  corner  of  two  roads. 
Leaving  his  horse  he  approached  the  general,  saluted  and 
asked  what  was  his  wish. 

Very  kindly  General  Sherman  asked  who  he  was,  and  how 
he  came  to  have  lost  his  way.  With  his  first  sentence  it  was 
apparent  to  General  Sherman  that  the  lad  was  not  only  a 
Union  man  but  that  he  had  been  raised  in  New  England. 
He  said  he  had  been  acting  as  clerk  to  his  brother,  a  cap- 
tain of  the  regular  army,  and  that  he  had  neither  seen  nor 
heard  cf  his  brother  since  the  battle.  He  was  riding  along 
and  saw  the  dead  horse  by  the  wayside  and  at  once  was 
struck  with  its  resemblance  to  the  animal  his  brother  had 
ridden  just  before  he  left  him.  He  looked  up  appealingly 
and  said,  "How  can  I  find  his  camp?" 

General  Sherman  turned  his  horse  and  rode  to  the  spot 
where  the  dead  animal  Jay,  and  looked  at  the  body  care- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  2$ 5 

fully  for  a  few  moments  and  then  came  riding  back  with 
a  smile  on  his  face.  To  the  young  man  he  said,  "That 
is  not  your  brother's  horse.  It  is  one  of  those  belonging 
to  my  command.  Come  with  us  and  we  will  take  you  to 
camp." 

The  lad  accepted  the  explanation  and  rode  along  with  me 
till  we  came  to  the  point  at  which  he  was  to  turn  off  for  his 
brother's  headquarters.  Shortly  after  he  had  bidden  us  good 
night,  one  of  General  Sherman's  aids  asked  him  what  made 
him  tell  such  a  whopper  about  the  dead  horse,  and  asserted 
there  was  no  way  of  knowing  to  what  corps  the  animal  had 
belonged. 

"Well,"  said  the  general,  "perhaps  you  are  right,  but  the 
whopper  of  which  you  complain  did  no  harm,  and  you  saw 
by  the  lad's  eyes  how  much  good  it  did  him." 

The  next  day  I  met  the  lad  again,  walking  with  his  brother, 
their  arms  linked  lovingly  together,  and  could  not  help  feel- 
ing that  if  I  ever  had  an  opportunity  and  could  think  quickly 
enough  I  would  tell  a  bigger  whopper  if  I  could  call  out  such 
a  pleasant  smile  as  greeted  me  when  I  sought  to  renew  the 
acquaintance.  It  was  one  of  the  little  incidences  constantly 
occurring  to  explain  the  love  and  esteem  felt  by  every  soldier 
of  Sherman's  army  for  their  commander,  and  reminds  me  of 
a  letter  published  after  his  death  by  Private  Dalzell,  con- 
taining reference  to  the  constancy  of  General  Sherman's 
attendance  at  all  the  reunions  of  the  Grand  Army: 

"To  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  SUN — Sir:  Our  next  national  en- 
campment of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  which  will  be 
held  at  Detroit  next  August,  will  be  the  first  from  which  Gen. 
Sherman  has  been  absent  since  he  joined  the  order  in  1884, 
after  his  retirement  from  the  office  of  General  of  the  Army. 
His  commanding  face  and  figure  will  be  sadly  missed.  We 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

shall  meet,  a  few  of  us  but  not  often,  not  for  long,  but  when- 
ever we  gather  under  the  folds  of  the  old  flag, 

"'We  shall  meet,  but  we  shall  miss  him. 
There  will  be  one  vacant  chair.' 

"He  was  the  only  one  of  the  eminent  officers  of  the  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point  who  ever  countenanced  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic  or  attended  its  meetings, 

"Did  you  know  that? 

"The  volunteer  officers  always  patronized  it,  but  the  regulars 
stood  off.  They  do  not  like  its  leveling  of  all  ranks  to  one 
equal  rank  of  comradeship.  They  prefer  the  Society  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  the  Loyal  Legion  and  other  highfa- 
lutin'  aristocratic  cliques  which  exclude  privates  entirely. 
Not  so  with  Uncle  Billy,  greater  than  any  other  regular  liv- 
ing, except  possibly  Grant — and  this  concession  is  made 
merely  to  popular  opinion.  It  is  not  mine,  for  to  me  William 
Tecumseh  Sherman  has  no  rival  in  the  military  annals  of  all 
time.  Yet  great  as  he  was,  he  put  on  the  simple,  cheap  pri- 
vate's blouse,  made  himself  our  equal,  and  sat  down  with  us 
in  all  our  national  councils. 

"The  war  being  over,  he  saw  no  difference  in  rank — because 
there  is  none  now.  Greater  than  any  of  the  conceited  up- 
starts and  carpet  knights  who  never  made  their  mark  any- 
where but  on  the  pay  rolls,  he  was  just  large  enough  to  see 
what  their  small  souls  could  never  take  in,  that  'the  post  of 
honor  is  a  private  station,'  that  'the  men  who  did  the  fight- 
ing, all  of  it,  every  bit  of  it,  were  the  privates  of  the  army. ' 
Therefore  it  is  that  we  honor  Sherman.  This  is  the  secret 
of  it  all,  much  as  the  world  has  marveled  at  it.  The  long 
line  of  men  in  blue,  the  poorest  and  the  bravest  arid  best  the 
sun  shone  on  since  first  it  threw  its  radianofc  round  the  uni- 
verse, stood  uncovered  and  weeping  for  thirty-six  long  hours, 
along  a  line  of  railroad  a  thousand  miles  long,  and  while  the 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  257 

rain  poured  down  in  torrents,  almost  in  midwinter,  and  froze 
as  it  fell,  there  they  stood,  these  gray-haired  boys  in  blue, 
weeping  all  the  day,  all  the  long  night  through,  while  Sher- 
man marched  down  to  the  sea  of  eternal  rest. 

"Such  a  sight  was  never  seen  before.  It  was  all  as  simple 
as  A  B  C.  He  made  himself  the  equal  of  his  brethren. 
Though  greater  than  any  king  that  ever  shook  the  planet 
with  his  armies,  he  was  as  plain,  modest,  kind,  and  gentle 
as  a  little  child.  And  so  we  loved  Sherman  simply  and  only 
because  he  loved  us!  This  is  the  whole  story. 

"PRIVATE  DALZELL." 

Shortly  after  this  there'were  changes  in  the  army  organiza- 
tion that  gave  the  commanders  better  opportunity  of  active 
operations,  untrammeled  by  instructions  given  from  a  dis- 
tance. It  was  Grant's  purpose  to  use  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee to  keep  open  the  Mississippi.  Of  the  expedition  up 
the  Red  River  under  General  Banks  it  is  only  necessary  for 
this  narrative  to  state  that  it  met  with  the  approval  and  as- 
sistance of  General  Sherman  and  was  successful  in  withhold- 
ing from  other  points  a  large  force  of  Rebels  who  were  more 
easily  handled  by  the  forces  at  this  point. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  while  at  Nashville,  Major-General 
Grant  received  telegraphic  orders  to  report  in  person  at  Wash- 
ington. Congress  had  passed  an  act  creating  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant-General,  and  the  president  had  nominated  Grant 
to  the  position.  The  relations  between  Grant  and  Sherman 
are  touchingly  shown  by  the  following  correspondence: 

[PRIVATE.] 

"NASHVILLE,  TENNESSEE,  March  4,  1864. 
"  DEAR  SHERMAN  :    The  bill  reviving  the  grade  of  Lieutenant- 
General  in  the  army  has  become  a  law,  and   my  name   has 
been  sent  to  the  Senate  for  the  place. 
17 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN, 

"I  now  receive  orders  to  report  at  Washington  imme- 
diately, in  person,  which  indicates  either  a  confirmation  or  a 
likelihood  of  confirmation.  I  start  in  the  morning  to  comply 
with  the  order,  but  I  shall  say  very  distinctly  on  my  arrival 
there  that  I  shall  accept  no  appointment  which  will  require 
me  to  make  that  city  my  headquarters.  This,  however,  is 
not  what  I  started  out  to  write  about. 

"While  I  have  been  eminently  successful  in  this  war,  in  at 
least  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  public,  no  one  feels  more 
than  I  how  much  of  this  success  is  due  to  the  energy,  skill, 
and  the  harmonious  putting  forth  of  that  energy  and  skill,  of 
those  whom  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  have  occupying 
subordinate  positions  under  me. 

"There  are  many  officers  to  whom  these  remarks  are  appli- 
cable to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  proportionate  to  their  ability 
as  soldiers;  but  what  I  want  is  to  express  my  thanks  to  you 
and  McPherson,  as  the  men  to  whom,  above  all  others,  I  feel 
indebted  for  whatever  I  have  had  of  success.  How  far  your 
advice  and  suggestions  have  been  of  assistance,  you  know. 
How  far  your  execution  of  whatever  has  been  given  you  to  do 
entitles  you  to  the  reward  I  am  receiving,  you  cannot  know 
as  well  as  I  do.  I  feel  all  the  gratitude  this  letter  would  ex- 
press, giving  it  the  most  flattering  construction. 

"The  word  'you'  I  use  in  the  plural,  intending  it  for  McPher- 
son also.  I  should  write  to  him,  and  will  some  day,  but, 
starting  in  the  morning,  I  do  not  know  that  I  will  find  time 
just  now.  Your  friend, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Major-General." 

[PRIVATE  AND  CONFIDENTIAL.] 

"NEAR  MEMPHIS,  March  10,  1864. 
"General  GRANT. 

"DEAR  GENERAL:     I  have  your  more  than  kind  and  charac- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  259 

teristic  letter  of  the  4th,  and  will  send  a  copy  of  it  to  General 
McPherson  at  once. 

"You  do  yourself  injustice  and  us  too  much  honor  in  assign- 
ing to  us  so  large  a  share  of  the  merits  which  have  led  to  your 
high  advancement.  I  know  you  approve  the  friendship  I  have 
ever  professed  to  you,  and  will  permit  me  to  continue  as 
heretofore  to  manifest  it  on  all  proper  occasions. 

"You  are  now  Washington's  legitimate  successor,  and  occu- 
py a  position  of  almost  dangerous  elevation;  but  if  you  can 
continue  as  heretofore  to  be  yourself,  simple,  honest,  and 
unpretending,  you  will  enjoy  through  life  the  respect  and 
love  of  friends,  and  the  homage  of  millions  of  human  beings, 
who  will  award  to  you  a  large  share  for  securing  to  them  and 
their  descendants  a  government  of  law  and  stability. 

"I  repeat,  you  do  General  McPherson  and  myself  too  much 
honor.  At  Belmont  you  manifested  your  traits,  neither  of  us 
being  near;  at  Donelson  also  you  illustrated  your  whole 
character.  I  was  not  near,  and  General  McPherson  in  too 
subordinate  a  capacity  to  influence  you. 

"Until  you  had  won  Donelson,  I  confess  I  was  almost 
cowed  by  the  terrible  array  of  anarchical  elements  that  pre- 
sented themselves  at  every  point;  but  that  admitted  a  ray 
of  light  I  have  followed  since. 

"I  believe  you  are  as  brave,  patriotic,  and  just,  as  the 
great  prototype,  Washington — as  unselfish,  kind-hearted,  and 
honest  as  a  man  should  be— but  the  chief  characteristic  is 
the  simple  faith  in  success  you  have  always  manifested, 
which  I  can  liken  to  nothing  else  than  the  faith  a  Christian 
has  in  the  Savior. 

"This  faith  gave  you  victory  at  Shiloh  and  Vicksburg. 
Also,  when  you  have  completed  your  best  preparations,  you 
go  into  battle  without  hesitation,  as  at  Chattanooga — no 
doubts — no  reserves;  and  I  tell  you,  it  was  this  that  made 


26O  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

us  act  with  confidence.  I  knew,  wherever  I  was,  that  you 
thought  of  me,  and  if  I  got  in  a  tight  place,  you  would  help 
me  out,  if  alive. 

"My  only  point  of  doubts  was  in  your  knowledge  of  grand 
strategy,  and  of  books  of  science  and  history;  but,  I  confess, 
your  common  sense  seems  to  have  supplied  all  these. 

"Now  as  to  the  future.  Don't  stay  in  Washington. 
Come  West;  take  to  yourself  the  whole  Mississippi  Valley. 
Let  us  make  it  dead-sure — and  I  tell  you,  the  Atlantic  slopes 
and  Pacific  shores  will  follow  its  destiny,  as  sure  as  the  limbs 
of  a  tree  live  or  die  with  the  main  trunk.  We  have  done 
much,  but  still  much  remains.  Time  and  time's  influences, 
are  with  us.  We  could  almost  afford  to  sit  still,  and  let 
these  influences  work. 

"Here  lies  the  seat  of  the  coming  empire;  and  from  the 
West,  when  our  task  is  done,  we  will  make  short  work  of 
Charleston  and  Richmond,  and  the  impoverished  coast  of 
the  Atlantic.  Your  sincere  friend,  W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

On  the  1 2th  of  March  General  Halleck  was  relieved  from 
duty  as  General-in-Chief,  and  Lieutenant-General  Grant  as- 
signed to  the  command  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 

General  Halleck  remained  as  chief-of-staff.  General  Sher- 
man was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Military  Division 
of  the  Mississippi  and  Major-General  McPherson  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  Before  the  departure 
of  Grant  to  Washington,  General  Sherman  went  to  Nashville 
and  accompanied  him  as  far  as  Cincinnati.  At  the  Burnet 
House  in  that  city  the  two  generals  planned  the  campaigns 
of  Richmond  and  Atlanta  by  which  the  war  was  to  be 
brought  to  a  successful  close. 


CHAPTER  XL 

NEARING   THE    END — THE    MARCH   TO    ATLANTA — CUTTING   THE 

CONFEDERACY  AGAIN — ALL   THE    ARMIES    MOVING    FOR   A 

COMMON    PURPOSE   AND   TO   MEET   VICTORIOUS. 


By  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi  river  the  Confederacy 
had  lost  a  large  and  important  portion  of  its  territory.  From 
Texas  and  Arkansas  it  had  drawn  largely  needed  supplies. 
These  states  were  now  comparatively  lost  to  the  national 
enemies.  The  effect  was  serious,  but  it  was  necessary  to 
make  still  another  move  that  their  territory  should  be  so 
limited  as  to  prevent  their  further  operations.  The  plan 
determined  upon  by  Grant  and  Sherman  was  that  the  armies 
of  the  West  should  move  toward  the  East  and  finally  draw 
around  the  southern  forces  like  an  anaconda.  General 
Grant  was  to  command  the  operations  in  the  East  in  person 
while  to  General  Sherman  was  left  the  important  duty  of 
cutting  his  way  through  the  enemy's  country.  For  this  duty 
his  past  experience  eminently  fitted  him.  He  was  quick  in 
action  and  fertile  in  expedients,  and  the  general  outline  was 
all  that  could  be  determined  upon  in  advance,  the  minor  de- 
tails being  left  to  the  judgment  of  General  Sherman  as  events 
should  make  necessary.  A  detailed  statement  of  the  army 
under  the  command  of  General  Sherman  on  April  10,  1864, 
shows  the  following: 

The  Army  of  the  Cumberland— 

MEN. 

Present  and  absent 171,450 

Present  for  duty.. 88,883 

261 


262  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN, 

The  Army  of  the  Tennessee — 

MEN. 

Present  and  absent 1 34, 763 

Present  for  duty 64,957 

The  Army  of  the  Ohio — 

MEN. 

Present  and  absent 46,052 

Present  for  duty 26, 242 

As  it  was  necessary  to  maintain  strong  garrisons  in  the  re- 
spective departments  and  to  guard  their  lines  of  supply,  Gen- 
eral Sherman  sought  to  prepare  out  of  these  three  armies  a 
body  for  operations  in  Georgia  of  about  the  followiag  num- 
bers: 

MEN. 

Army  of  the  Cumberland 50,000 

Army  of  the  Tennessee 35,  ooo 

Army  of  the  Ohio 1 5,000 


Total i  oo,  ooo 

The  month  of  April  was  consumed  in  making  preparations. 

The  amount  of  baggage  to  be  carried  by  officers  and  men 
was  limited  to  actual  necessities  and  when  the  date  for  action 
came  the  following  troops  were  ready  for  battle: 

Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Major- Genera!  THOU  AS. 

MEN. 

Infantry 54,  568 

Artillery 2, 377 

Cavalry 3,828 


Aggregate 60, 773 

Number  of  field-guns,  130. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  263 

Army  of  the  Tennessee,  Major -General  McPHERSON. 

MEN. 

Infantry 22,437 

Artillery 1 , 404 

Cavalry 624 


Aggregate 24,465 


Army  of  the  Ohio,  Major-General  SCHOFIELD 

MEN. 

Infantry 11,183 

Artillery 679 

Cavalry i ,  697 

Aggregate I3>559 

Guns,    28. 

G;and  aggregate,  98,797  men  and  254  guns. 

These  figures  do  not  include  cavalry  divisions  of  General 
Stoneman  at  Lexington  and  General  Garrard  at  Columbia, 
Tennessee.  General  Blair  with  two  division  constituting  the 
Seventeenth  Army  corps  were  to  follow  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  overtook  the  main  army  about  June  4th.  The  following 
correspondence  between  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  show 
the  plans  as  then  determined  upon: 

[PRIVATE  AND  CONFIDENTIAL.] 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  4,  1864.  j 

Major-General,  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding  Military  Divis- 
ion of  the  Mississippi. 

"GENERAL:  It  is  my  design,  if  the  enemy  keep  quiet  and 
allow  me  to  take  the  initiative  in  the  spring  campaign,  to  work 
all  parts  of  the  army  together,  and  somewhat  toward  a  com- 
mon center.  For  your  information  I  now  write  you  my 
program,  as  at  present  determined  upon. 


264  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

"I  have  sent  orders  to  Banks,  by  private  messenger,  to- 
finish  up  his  present  expedition  against  Shreveport  with  all 
dispatch;  to  turn  over  the  defense  of  Red  River  to  General 
Steele  and  the  navy,  and  to  return  your  troops  to  you,  and 
his  own  to  New  Orleans;  to  abandon  all  of  Texas,  except 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  to  hold  that  with  not  to  exceed  four 
thousand  men;  to  reduce  the  number  of  troops  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  the  lowest  number  necessary  to  hold  it,  and  to- 
collect  from  his  command  not  less  than  twenty-five  thousand 
men.  To  this  I  will  add  five  thousand  from  Missouri.  With 
this  force  he  is  to  commence  operations  against  Mobile  as 
soon  as  he  can.  It  will  be  impossible  for  him  to  commence 
too  early. 

"Gillmore  joins  Butler  with  ten  thousand  men,  and  the  two 
operate  against  Richmond  from  the  south  side  of  James 
River.  This  will  give  Butler  thirty-three  thousand  men  to- 
operate  with,  W.  F.  Smith  commanding  the  right  wing  of 
his  forces,  and  Gillmore  the  left  wing.  I  will  stay  with  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  increased  by  Burnside's  corps  of  not 
less  than  twenty-five  thousand  effective  men,  and  operate 
directly  against  Lee's  army,  wherever  it  may  be  found. 

"Sigel  collects  all  his  available  force  in  two  columns,  one, 
under  Ord  and  Averill,  to  start  from  Beverly,  Virginia,  and 
the  other,  under  Crook,  to  start  from  Charleston,  on  the 
Kanawha,  to  move  against  the  Virginia  &  Tennessee  Railroad. 

"Crook  will  have  all  cavalry,  and  will  endeavor  to  get  in 
about  Saltville,  and  move  east  from  there  to  join  Ord.  His 
force  will  be  all  cavalry,  while  Ord  will  have  from  ten  to 
twelve  thousand  men  of  all  arms. 

"You  I  propose  to  move  against  Johnston's  army,  to  break 
it  up,  and  to  get  into  the  interior  of  the  enemy's  country  as 
far  as  you  can,  inflicting  all  the  damage  you  can  against  their 
war  'resources. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  265 

"I  do  not  propose  to  lay  down  for  you  apian  of  campaign, 
but  simply  to  lay  down  the  work  it  is  desirable  to  have  done, 
and  leave  you  free  to  execute  it  in  your  own  way.  Sub- 
mit to  me,  however,  as  early  as  you  can,  your  plan  of  opera- 
tions. 

"As  stated,  Banks  is  ordered  to  commence  operations  as 
soon  as  he  can.  Gillmore  is  ordered  to  report  at  Fortress 
Monroe  by  the  i8th  inst.,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  practicable. 
Sigel  is  concentrating  now.  None  will  move  from  their 
places  of  rendezvous  until  I  direct  Banks.  I  want  to  be 
ready  to  move  by  the  25th  inst.,  if  possible;  but  all  I  can 
now  direct  is  that  you  get  ready  as  soon  as  possible.  I  know 
you  will  have  difficulties  to  encounter  in  getting  through  the 
mountains  to  where  supplies  are  abundant,  but  I  believe  you 
will  accomplish  it. 

"From  the  expedition  from  the  Department  of  West  Vir- 
ginia I  do  not  calculate  on  very  great  results;  but  it  is  the  only 
way  I  can  take  troops  from  there.  With  the  long  line  of 
railroad  Sigel  has  to  protect  he  can  spare  no  troops,  except 
to  move  directly  to  his  front.  In  this  way  he  must  get 
through  to  inflict  great  damage  on  the  enemy,  or  the  enemy 
must  detach  from  one  of  his  armies  a  large  force  to  prevent 
it.  In  other  words,  if  Sigel  can't  skin  himself,  he  can  hold 
a  leg  while  some  one  else  skins. 

"I  am,  general,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General" 


"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
NASHVILLE,  TENNESSEE,  April  10,    1864.      j 

"Lieutenant-General  GRANT,  Commander-in-Chief,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

"DEAR  GENERAL:     Your  two  letters  of  April  4th  are  now 
before  me,   and  afford  me  infinite  satisfaction.     That  we  are 


266  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

now  ail  to  act  on  a  common  plan,   converging  on  a  common 
center,  looks  like  enlightened  war. 

"Like  yourself,  you  take  the  biggest  load,  and  from  me  you 
shall  have  thorough  and  hearty  co-operation.  I  will  not  let  side 
issues  draw  me  off  from  your  main  plans  in  which  I  am  to 
knock  Jos.  Johnston,  and  to  do  as  much  damage  to  the  re- 
sources of  the  enemy  as  possible.  I  have  heretofore  written 
to  General  Rawlins  and  to  Colonel  Comstock  of  your  staff 
somewhat  of  the  method  in  which  I  propose  to  act.  I  have 
seen  all  my  army,  corps,  and  division  commanders,  and  have 
signified  only  to  the  former,  viz.,  Schofield,  Thomas,  and  Mc- 
Pherson,  our  general  plans,  which  I  inferred  from  the  purport 
of  our  conversation  here  and  at  Cincinnati. 

"First,  I  am  pushing  stores  to  the  front  with  all  possible  dis- 
patch, and  am  completing  the  army  oragnization  according  to 
the  orders  from  Washington,  which  are  ample  and  perfectly 
satisfactory. 

"It  will  take  us  all  of  April  to  get  in  our  furloughed  veterans, 
to  bring  up  A.  J.  Smith's  command,  and  to  collect  provisions 
and  cattle  on  the  line  of  the  Tennessee.  Each  of  the  armies 
will  guard,  by  detachments  of  its  own,  its  rear  communica- 
tions. 

"At  the  signal  to  be  given  by  you,  Schofield,  leaving  a  select 
garrison  at  Knoxville  and  Loudon,  with  twelve  thousand  men 
will  drop  down  to  the  Hiawassee,  and  march  against  Johnston's 
right  by  the  old  Federal  road.  Stoneman,  now  in  Kentucky, 
organizing  the  cavalry  forces  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  will 
operate  with  Schofield  on  his  left  front — it  may  be,  pushing  a 
select  body  of  about  two  thousand  cavalry  by  Ducktown  or 
Elijah  toward  Athens,  Georgia. 

"Thomas  will  aim  to  have  forty-five  thousand  men  of  all 
arms,  and  move  straight  against  Johnston,  wherever  he  may 
be,  fighting  him  cautiously,  persistently,  and  to  the  best  ad- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  267 

vantage.     He  will  have  two  divisions  of  cavalry,  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  any  offering. 

"McPherson  will  have  nine  divisions  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee, if  A.  J.  Smith  gets  here,  in  which  case  he  will  have 
full  thirty  thousand  of  the  best  men  in  America.  He  will 
cross  the  Tennessee  at  Decatur  and  Whitesburg,  march  toward 
Rome,  and  feel  for  Thomas.  If  Johnston  falls  behind  the 
Coosa,  then  McPherson  will  push  for  Rome;  and  if  Johnston 
falls  behind  the  Chattahoochee,  as  I  belive  he  will,  then  Mc- 
Pherson will  cross  over  and  join  Thomas. 

"McPherson  has  no  cavalry,  but  I  have  taken  one  of  Thom- 
as' divisions,  viz.,  Garrard's,  six  thousand  strong,  which  is 
now  at  Columbia,  mounting,  equipping,  and  preparing.  I 
design  this  division  to  operate  on  McPherson's  right,  rear,  or 
front,  according  as  the  enemy  appears.  But  the  moment  I 
detect  Johnston  falling  behind  the  Chattahoochee,  I  propose 
te  cast  off  the  effective  part  of  this  cavalry  division,  after 
crossing  the  Coosa,  straight  for  Opelika,  West  Point,  Colum- 
bus, or  Wetumpka,  to  break  up  the  road  between  Montgomery 
and  Georgia.  If  Garrard  can  do  this  work  well,  he  can  return 
to  the  Union  army;  but  should  a  superior  force  interpose, 
then  he  will  seek  safety  at  Pensacolaand  join  Banks,  or,  after 
rest,  will  act  against  any  force  that  he  can  find  east  of  Mobile 
till  such  time  as  he  can  reach  me. 

"Should  Johnston  fall  behind  the  Chattahoochee,  I  will  feign 
to  the  right,  but  pass  to  the  left  and  act  against  Altanta  or 
its  eastern  communications,  according  to  developed  facts. 

"This  is  about  as  far  ahead  as  I  feel  disposed  to  look,  but  I 
will  ever  bear  in  mind  that  Johnston  is  at  all  times  to  be  kept 
so  busy  that  he  cannot  in  any  event  send  any  part  of  his  com- 
mand against  you  or  Banks. 

"If  Banks  can  at  the  same  time  carry  Mobile  and  open  up 
the  Alabama  River,  he  will  in  a  measure  solve  the  most  dirfi- 


268  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

cult  part  of  my  problem,  viz.,  l provisions. '  But  in  that  I 
must  venture.  Georgia  has  a  million  of  inhabitants.  If  they 
can  live,  we  should  not  starve.  If  the  enemy  interrupt  our 
communications,  I  will  be  absolved  from  all  obligations  to 
subsist  on  our  own  resources,  and  will  feel  perfectly  justified 
in  taking  whatever  and  wherever  we  can  find. 

"I  will  inspire  my  command,  if  successful,  with  the  feeling 
that  beef  and  salt  are  all  that  is  absolutely  necessary  to  life, 
and  that  parched  corn  once  fed  General  Jackson's  army  on 
that  very  ground. 

"As  ever,  your  friend  and  servant, 

"W.   T.   SHERMAN,   Major-General." 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  IN  THE  FIELD,  ) 
CULPEPPER  COURT-HOUSE,  VIRGINIA,  April  19,  1864.  j 

"Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Commanding  Military 
Division  of  the  Mississippi. 

"GENERAL:  Since  my  letter  to  you  of  April  4th  I  have  seen 
no  reason  to  change  any  portion  of  the  general  plan  of  cam- 
paign, if  the  enemy  remain  still  and  allow  us  to  take  the  ini- 
tiative. Rain  has  continued  so  uninterruptedly  until  the  last 
day  or  two  that  it  will  be  impossible  to  move,  however,  before 
the  27th,  even  if  no  more  should  fall  in  the  meantime.  I  think 
Saturday,  the  3Oth,  will  probably  be  the  day  for  our  general 
move. 

"Colonel  Comstock,  who  will  take  this,  can  spend  a  day  with 
you,  and  fill  up  many  little  gaps  of  information  not  given  in 
any  of  my  letters. 

"What  I  now  want  more  particularly  to  say  is,  that  if  the  two 
main  attacks,  yours  and  the  one  from  here,  should  promise 
great  success,  the  enemy  may,  in  a  fit  of  desperation,  aban- 
don one  part  of  their  line  of  defense,  and  throw  their  whole 
strength  upon  the  other,  believing  a  single  defeat  without  any 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  269 

victory  to  sustain  them  better  than  a  defeat  all  along  their 
line,  and  hoping  too,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  army,  meet- 
ing with  no  resistance,  will  rest  perfectly  satisfied  with  their 
laurels,  having  penetrated  to  a  given  point  south,  thereby  en 
abling  them  to  throw  their  force  first  upon  one  and  then  on 
the  other. 

"With  the  majority  of  military  commanders  they  might  do 
this. 

"But  you  have  had  too  much  experience  in  traveling  light, 
and  subsisting  upon  the  country,  to  be  caught  by  any  such 
ruse.  I  hope  my  experience  has  not  been  thrown  away.  My 
directions,  then,  would  be,  if  the  enemy  in  your  front  show 
signs  of  joining  Lee,  follow  him  up  to  the  full  extent  of  your 
ability.  I  will  prevent  the  concentration  of  Lee  upon  your 
front,  if  it  is  in  the  power  of  this  army  to  do  it. 

"The  Army  of  the  Potomac  looks  well,  and,  so  far  as  I  can 
judge,  officoffs  and  men  feel  well.  Yours  truly, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General." 


"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ] 
NASHVILLE,  TENNESSEE,  April  24,  1864.  j 

"Lieutenant-General  GRANT,  Commanding  Armies  of  the 
United  States,  Culpepper,  Virginia. 

"GENERAL:  I  now  have,  at  the  hands  of  Colonel  Comstock, 
of  your  staff,  the  letter  of  April  iQth,  and  am  as  far  prepared 
to  assume  the  offensive  as  possible.  I  only  ask  as  much  time 
as  you  think  proper,  to  enable  me  to  get  up  McPherson's  two 
divisions  from  Cairo.  Their  furloughs  will  expire  about  this 
time,  and  some  of  them  should  now  be  in  motion  for  Clifton, 
whence  they  will  march  to  Decatur,  to  join  General  Dodge. 

"McPherson  is  ordered  to  assemble  the  Fifteenth  Corps  near 
Larkin's  and  to  get  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps 
(Dodge  and  Blair)  at  Decatur  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 


2/O  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

From  these  two  points  he  will  direct  his  forces  on  Lebanon, 
Summerville,  and  Lafayette,  where  he  will  act  against  John- 
ston, if  he  accept  battle  at  Dalton;  or  move  in  the  direction 
of  Rome,  if  the  enemy  give  up  Dalton,  and  fall  behind  the 
Oostenaula  or  Etowah.  I  see  that  there  is  some  risk  in  di- 
viding our  forces,  but  Thomas  and  Schofield  will  have  strength 
enough  to  cover  all  the  valleys  as  far  as  Dalton;  and,  should 
Johnston  turn  his  whole  force  against  McPherson,  the  latter 
will  have  his  bridge  at  Larkin's,  and  the  route  to  Chattanooga 
via  Wills'  Valley  and  the  Chattanooga  Creek,  open  for  re- 
treat; and  if  Johnston  attempt  to  leave  Dalton,  Thomas  will 
have  force  enough  to  push  on  through  Dalton  to  Kingston, 
which  will  checkmate  him.  My  own  opinion  is  that  Johnston 
will  be  compelled  to  hang  to  his  railroad,  the  only  possible 
avenue  of  supply  to  his  army,  estimated  at  from  forty-five 
to  sixty  thousand  men. 

"At  Lafayette  all  our  armies  will  be  together,  and  if  John- 
ston stands  at  Dalton  we  must  attack  him  in  position.  Thom- 
as feels  certain  that  he  has  no  material  increase  of  force,  and 
that  he  has  not  sent  away  Hardee,  or  any  part  of  his  army. 
Supplies  are  the  great  question.  I  have  materially  increased 
the  number  of  cars  daily.  When  I  got  here,  the  average  was 
from  sixty-five  to  eighty  per  day.  Yesterday  the  report  was 
one  hundred  and  ninety-three;  to-day,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four;  and  my  estimate  is  that  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  cars  per  day  will  give  us  a  day's  supply  and  a  day's  ac- 
cumulation. 

"McPherson  is  ordered  to  carry  in  wagons  twenty  days'  ra- 
tions, and  to  rely  on  the  depot  at  Ringgold  for  the  renewal  of 
his  bread.  Beeves  are  now  being  driven  on  the  hoof  to  the 
front;  and  the  commissary,  Colonel  Beckwith,  seems  fully 
alive  to  the  importance  of  the  whole  matter. 

"Our  weakest  point  will  be  from  the  direction  of  Decatur, 


o 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  2? I 

and  I  will  be  forced  to  risk  something  from  that  quarter,  de- 
pending on  the  fact  that  the  enemy  has  no  force  available 
with  which  to  threaten  our  communications  from  that  direc- 
tion. 

"Colonel  Comstock  will  explain  to  you  personally  much  that 
I  cannot  commit  to  paper.  I  am,  with  great  respect, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 

The  opening  movements  are  thus  described  by  Colonel 
Bowman: 

"The  two  hostile  armies  were  separated  by  an  inaccessi- 
ble spur  of  the  Alleghanies,  called  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  cloven 
by  Buzzard's  Roost  Gap,  through  which  runs  the  railway  and 
Mill  Creek.  This  narrow  pass  was  strongly  fortified,  was 
flooded  by  the  waters  of  the  creek,  artificially  raised  by 
means  of  a  dam,  and  was  swept  by  strong  batteries  on  the 
projecting  spurs  and  on  a  ridge  at  the  southern  extremity. 

"To  assualt  the  enemy  in  this  almost  unapproachable  posi- 
tion, formed  no  part  of  Sherman's  plan.  He  decided  to 
turn  the  enemy's  left.  McPherson  was  ordered  to  move 
rapidly  by  Ship's  Gap,  Villanow,  and  Snake'  s  Creek  Gap, 
on  the  railway  at  Resaca,  eighteen  miles  below  Dalton,  or  a 
point  nearer  than  that  place,  make  a  bold  attack,  and 
after  breaking  the  railway  well,  to  retire  to  a  strong  defensive 
position  near  Snake  Creek  Gap,  ready  to  fall  on  the  enemy's 
flank  when  he  retreated,  as  it  was  thought  he  would  do. 

"On  the  7th  of  May,  with  slight  opposition,  Thomas  occu- 
pied Tunnel  Hill,  directly  in  fro  it  of  Buzzard's  Roost  Gap. 
On  the  9th,  Schofield  moved  down  close  to  Dalton,  from  his 
camps  at  Red  Clay,  and  Thomas  renewed  his  demonstration 
against  Buzzard's  Roost  and  Rocky  Face  Ridge  with  such 
vigor,  that  Newton's  division  of  Howard's  fourth  corps  car- 
ried the  ridge,  but  turning  south,  found  the  crest  too  narrow 


2/2  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

and  too  well  protected  by  rock  epaulements  to  enable  it  to 
reach  the  gorge.  Geary's  division  of  Hooker's  twentieth 
corps,  made  a  bold  push  for  the  summit,  but  the  narrow  road 
was  strongly  held  by  the  enemy,  and  could  not  be  carried. 

"Meanwhile  McPherson  had  reached  Snake  Creek  Gap  on 
the  8th,  completely  surprising  a  brigade  of  Confederate  cav- 
alry which  was  coming  to  watch  and  hold  it.  The  next  day 
he  approached  within  a  mile  of  Resaca,  but  finding  that 
place  very  strongly  fortified,  and  no  road  leading  across  to 
it,  without  exposing  his  left  flank  to  an  attack  from  the  north, 
he  retired  to  Snake  Creek  Gap  and  there  took  up  a  strong 
position. 

"Leaving  Howard's  Fourth  Corps  and  a  small  force  of 
cavalry,  to  occupy  the  enemy's  attention  in  front,  on  the  loth, 
Sherman  ordered  General  Thomas  to  send  Hooker's  twen- 
tieth corps  over  to  McPherson,  and  to  follow  with  Palmer's 
fourteenth  corps,  and  Schofield  was  directed  to  march  by  the 
same  route.  On  the  I2th,  the  whole  army,  except  How- 
ard's corps,  moved  through  Snake's  Creek  Gap  on  Resaca — 
McPherson,  in  advance,  by  the  direct  road,  preceded  by  Kil- 
patrick's  division  of  cavalry;  Thomas  to  the  left,  and  Scho- 
field to  the  right. 

"General  Kilpatrick,  with  his  division,  led,  and  drove 
Wheeler's  division  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  from  a  cross-road  to 
within  two  miles  of  Resaca,  but  received  a  wound  which  dis- 
abled him,  and  gave  the  command  of  his  brigade  to  Colonel 
Murray,  who,  according  to  his  orders,  wheeled  out  of  the 
road,  leaving  General  McPherson  to  pass.  General  Mc- 
Pherson struck  the  enemy's  infantry  pickets  near  Resaca,  and 
drove  them  within  their  fortified  lines,  and  occupied  a  ridge 
of  bald  hills,  his  right  on  the  Oostanaula,  about  two  miles 
below  the  railway  bridge,  and  his  left  abreast  the  town. 
General  Thomas  came  up  on  his  left,  facing  Camp  Creek. 


THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN 

furnished  by 

Brevet. Brig  Gen.  O.M. Poe . 

Chief  Engineer 
SIEGE  or  ATLANTA 
r  ' "SAerman,  and his  Campaigns* 


Rebel  Work, 


2/4  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

General  Schofield  broke  his  way  through  the  dense  forest  to 
General  Thomas'  left.  Johnston  had  left  Dalton  on  the 
night  of  the  I2th  and  morning  of  the  I3th,  and  General  How- 
ard entered  it  and  pressed  his  rear.  Rocky  Face  Mountain 
and  the  southern  extremity  of  Snake  Creek  Gap  had  effectu- 
ally concealed  the  flank  movement  of  the  Union  army,  and 
nothing  saved  Johnston's  army  at  Resaca  but  the  imprac- 
ticable nature  of  the  country,  which  made  the  passage  of 
troops  across  the  valley  almost  impossible.  This  enabled  him 
to  reach  Resaca  from  Dalton  along  the  comparatively  good 
roads  constructed  beforehand,  by  his  own  foresight.  On  the 
1 4th  of  May,  the  whole  Rebel  army  was  met  in  a  strong  posi- 
tion behind  Camp  Creek,  occupying  the  forts  at  Resaca,  the 
right  on  some  high  hills  to  the  north  of  the  town.  Sherman 
at  once  ordered  a  pontoon  bridge  to  be  laid  across  the  Oosta- 
naula  at  Lay's  Ferry,  in  the  direction  of  Calhoun;  Sweeney's 
division  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  to  cross  and  threaten  Cal- 
houn, and  Garrard's  cavalry  division  to  move  from  its  posi- 
tion at  Villanow  toward  Rome,  cross  the  Oostanaula,  and 
break  the  railway  below  Calhoun  and  above  Kingston,  if  pos- 
sible, while  the  main  army  pressed  against  Resaca  at  all  points. 
General  McPherson  got  across  Camp  Creek  near  its  mouth, 
and  made  a  lodgment  close  up  to  the  enemy's  works,  driv- 
ing Folk's  corps  from  the  hills  that  commanded  the  railroad 
and  trestle  bridges;  and  General  Thomas  pressing  close  along 
Camp  Creek  Valley,  threw  Hooker's  corps  across  the  head 
of  the  creek  to  the  main  Dalton  road,  and  down  it  close  to 
Resaca. 

"General  Schofield  came  upon  his  left,  and  a  heavy  battle 
ensued  during  the  afternoon  and  evening  of  the  I  5th,  during 
which  General  Hooker  drove  the  enemy  from  several  strong 
hills,  capturing  a  four-gun  battery  and  many  prisoners.  That 
night  Johnston  escaped,  retreating  south  across  the  Oosta- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  2/5 

naula,  and  the  next  morning  Sherman  entered  the  town  in  time 
to  save  the  road  bridge,  but  not  the  railway  bridge,  which 
had  been  burned. 

"The  whole  army  started  in  pursuit,  General  Thomas  direct- 
ly on  the  heels  of  Hardee,  who  was  bringing  up  the  Confed- 
erate rear,  General  McPherson  by  Lay's  Ferry,  and  General 
Schofield  by  blind  roads  to  the  left.  In  Resaca  another  four- 
gun  battery  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  stores  were 
found. 

"During  the  i6th  the  whole  of  Sherman's  army  crossed  the 
Oostanaula  and  on  the  i/th  moved  south  by  as  many  differ- 
ent roads  as  practicable.  General  Thomas  had  sent  Jeffer- 
son C.  Davis'  division  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Oostanaula, 
to  Rome.  Near  Adairsville,  the  rear  of  the  Rebel  army  was 
again  encountered,  and  about  sunset  of  that  day  General 
Newton's  division,  in  the  advance,  had  a  sharp  encounter 
with  his  rear-guard,  but  the  next  morning  he  was  gone,  and 
the  Union  troops  pushed  on  through  Kingston,  to  a  point 
four  miles  beyond,  where  they  found  the  enemy  again  formed 
on  ground  comparatively  open,  and  well  adapted  for  a  great 
battle.  General  Schofield  approached  Cassville  from  the  north, 
to  which  point  General  Thomas  had  also  directed  General 
Hooker's  corps,  and  General  McPherson's  army  had  been 
drawn  from  Woodland  to  Kingston  in  order  to  be  in  close 
support.  On  the  iQth  the  enemy  was  in  force  about  Cass- 
ville, strongly  intrenched,  but  as  our  troops  converged  on  him 
again  he  retreated,  in  the  night-time,  across  the  Etowah 
River,  burning  the  road  and  railway  bridges  near  Cartersville, 
but  leaving  us  in  possession  of  the  valuable  country  about  the 
Etowah  River. 

"That  morning  Johnston  had  ordered  Folk's  and  Hood's 
corps  to  advance  and  attack  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  General 
Palmer's  which  had  followed  them  from  Adahsville,  but 


276  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

Hood,  who  led  the  advance,  being  deceived  by  a  report  that 
the  union  troops  had  turned  his  right,  delayed  until  the  oppor- 
tunity was  lost.  On  the  night  of  the  iQth,  the  Confederate 
army  held  a  commanding  situation  on  a  ridge  before  Cassville, 
but  acting  upon  the  earnest  representations  of  Lieutenant- 
Generals  Polk  and  Hardee,  that  their  positions  were  untena- 
ble, Johnston  crossed  the  Etowah  on  the  following  morning. 

"Holding  General  Thomas'  army  about  Cassville,  General 
McPherson's  about  Kingston,  and  General  Schofield  at  Cass- 
ville's  depot,  and  toward  the  Etowah  bridge,  Sherman  gave 
his  army  a  few  days'  rest,  and  time  to  bring  forward  supplies 
for  the  next  stage  of  the  campaign.  In  the  meantime  General 
Jefferson  C.  Davis,  with  his  division  of  the  Fourteenth 
Corps,  had  got  possession  of  Rome,  with  its  forts,  eight 
or  ten  guns  of  heavy  caliber,  and  its  valuable  mills,  and 
foundries.  Two  good  bridges  were  also  secured  across  the 
Etowah  River  near  Kingston.  Satisfied  that  the  enemy 
would  hold  him  in  check  at  the  Allatoona  Pass,  Sherman 
resolved,  without  even  attempting  it  in  front,  to  turn  it  by 
a  circuit  to  the  right,  and  having  loaded  the  wagons  with 
forage  and  subsistence  for  twenty  days'  absence  from  the  rail- 
way, left  a  garrison  at  Rome  and  Kingston,  on  the  23d  put 
the  army  in  motion  for  Dallas. 

"General  McPherson  crossed  the  Etowah  at  the  mouth  of 
Conasene  Creek,  near  Kingston,  and  moved  for  his  position 
to  the  south  of  Dallas  by  way  of  Van  Wert.  Davis'  division 
of  the  Fourteenth  Corps  moved  directly  from  Rome  for  Dallas 
by  Van  Wert.  General  Thomas  took  the  road  by  Euharlee 
and  Burnt  Hickory,  while  General  Schofield  moved  by  other 
roads  more  to  the  east,  aiming  to  come  up  on  Thomas'  left. 
The  head  of  Thomas'  column  skirmished  with  the  enemy's 
cavalry,' under  Jackson,  about  Burnt  Hickory,  and  captured 
a  courier  with  a  letter  of  General  Johnston,  showing  that  he 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  2/7 

had  detected  the  move,  and  was  preparing  to  take  a  stand 
near  Dallas.  The  country  was  very  rugged,  mountainous, 
and  densely  wooded,  with  few  and  obscure  roads. 

"On  the  25th  May,  General  Thomas  was  moving  from 
Burnt  Hickory  for  Dallas,  his  troops  on  three  roads,  Hooker's 
corps  having  the  advance.  When  he  approached  the  Pumpkin 
Vine  Creek,  on  the  main  Dallas  road,  he  found  Jackson's 
division  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  at  the  bridge  to  his  left.  Rap- 
idly pushing  across  the  creek,  he  saved  the  bridge,  though  on 
fire,  and  following  eastward  about  two  miles,  encountered 
and  drove  the  infantry  some  distance,  until  he  met  Hood's 
corps  in  line  of  battle,  and  his  leading  division,  General 
Geary's,  had  a  severe  encounter.  Williams'  and  Ward's  (late 
Butterfield's)  divisions  of  Hooker's  corps,  were  on  other 
roads,  and  it  was  nearly  four  o'clock  p.  M.  before  General 
Hooker  got  his  whole  corps  well  in  hand,  when  he  deployed, 
and,  by  Sherman's  order,  made  a  bold  push  to  secure  pos- 
session of  New  Hope  Church,  where  three  roads  from  Ack- 
worth,  Marietta,  and  Dallas  meet.  Here  a  hard  battle  with 
Stewart's  division  of  Hood's  corps  was  fought,  lasting  two 
hours,  but  the  enemy  being  covered  by  hastily  constructed 
earthworks,  and  a  stormy  dark  night  having  set  in,  General 
Hooker  was  unable  to  drive  him  from  these  roads.  The  next 
morning  General  McPherson  was  moved  up  to  Dallas, 
General  Thomas  deployed  against  New  Hope  Church,  and 
General  Schofield  directed  toward  the  left,  so  as  to  strike 
and  turn  the  enemy's  right.  General  Garrard's  cavalry  op- 
erated with  General  McPherson,  and  General  Stoneman's 
with  General  Schofield.  General  McCook  looked  to  the  rear. 
Owing  to  the  difficult  nature  of  the  ground  and  dense  forests, 
it  took  several  days  to  deploy  close  to  the  enemy,  when 
Sherman  resolved  gradually  to  work  toward  our  left,  and  as 
soon  as  all  things  should  be  ready  to  push  for  the  railway 


278  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

east  of  Allatoona.  In  making  the  development  before  the 
enemy  about  New  Hope,  many  severe  encounters  occurred 
between  parts  of  the  army.  On  the  28th,  General  McPher- 
son  was  on  the  point  of  closing  to  his  left  on  General  Thomas, 
in  front  of  New  Hope  Church,  to  enable  the  rest  of  the  army 
to  extend  still  more  to  the  left,  and  to  envelop  the  enemy's 
right,  when  suddenly  the  enemy  made  a  bold  and  daring  assault 
on  him  at  Dallas.  Fortunately  our  men  had  erected  good 
breastworks,  and  gave  the  enemy  a  terrible  and  bloody  re- 
pulse. After  a  few  days'  delay  for  effect,  Sherman  renewed 
his  orders  to  General  McPherson,  to  move  to  the  left  about 
five  miles,  and  occupy  General  Thomas'  position  in  front  of 
New  Hope  Church,  and  directed  Generals  Thomas  and 
Schofield  to  move  a  corresponding  distance  to  their  left.  This 
was  effected  without  resistance  on  the  ist  of  June,  and  by 
pushing  the  left  well  around,  all  the  roads  leading  back  to 
Allatoona  and  Ackworth  were  occupied,  after  which  Sherman 
sent  General  Stoneman's  cavalry  rapidly  into  Allatoona,  at 
the  east  end  of  the  Pass,  and  General  Garrard's  cavalry 
around  by  the  rear  to  the  west  end  of  the  Pass.  This  was 
accomplished,  Allatoona  Pass  was  turned,  and  Sherman's  real 
object  gained. 

"Ordering  the  railway  bridge  across  the  Etowah  to  be  at 
once  rebuilt,  Sherman  continued  working  by  the  left,  and  by 
the  4th  of  June  had  resolved  to  leave  Johnston  in  his  in- 
trenched position  at  New  Hope  Church,  and  move  to  the 
railway  about  Ackworth,  when  the  latter  abandoned  his  in- 
trenchments,  and  fell  back  to  Lost  Mountain.  The  Union 
army  then  moved  to  Ackworth  and  reached  the  railway  on 
the  6th. 

On  the  /th  the  Confederate  right  was  extended  beyond  the 
railway,  and  across  the  Ackworth  and  Marietta  road.  On 
examining  the  Allatoona  Pass,  Sherman  found  it  admirably 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  2/9 

adapted  for  use  as  a  secondary  base,  and  gave  the  necessary 
orders  for  its  defense  and  garrison.  As  soon  as  the  railway 
bridge  was  finished  across  the  Etowah,  stores  came  forward 
to  camp  by  rail.  At  Ackworth,  General  Blair  came  up  on 
the  8th  of  June  with  two  divisions  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps, 
that  had  been  on  furlough,  and  one  brigade  of  cavalry,  Colo- 
nel Long's,  of  General  Garrard's  division,  which  had  been 
awaiting  horses  at  Columbia.  This  accession  of  forces  nearly 
compensated  for  the  losses  in  battle,  and  the  detachments 
left  at  Resaca,  Rome,  Kingston  and  Allatoona. 

General  Sherman  lost  no  time  in  his  subsequent  movements, 
the  army  was  enthused  at  the  prospect  of  active  operations, 
and  began  to  realize  the  nature  of  the  attempt  being  made  to 
sunder  the  Confederacy  by  a  line  drawn  eastward.  General 
Sherman  says: 

"On  the  loth  of  June  the  whole  combined  army  moved  for- 
ward six  miles,  to  'Big  Shanty,'  a  station  on  the  railroad, 
whence  we  had  a  good  view  of  the  enemy's  position,  which 
embraced  three  prominent  hills,  known  as  Kenesaw,  Pine 
Mountain,  and  Lost  Mountain.  On  each  of  these  hills  the 
enemy  had  signal  stations  and  fresh  lines  of  parapets.  Heavy 
masses  of  infantry  could  be  distinctly  seen  with  the  naked 
eye,  and  it  was  manifest  that  Johnston  had  chosen  his  ground 
well,  and  with  deliberation  had  prepared  for  battle;  but  his 
line  was  at  least  ten  miles  in  extent — too  long,  in  my  judg- 
ment, to  be  held  successfully  by  his  force,  then  estimated  at 
sixty  thousand.  As  his  position,  however,  gave  him  a  per- 
fect view  over  our  field,  we  had  to  proceed  with  due  caution. 
McPherson  had  the  left,  following  the  railroad,  which  curved 
around  the  north  base  of  Kenesaw;  Thomas  the  center, 
obliqued  to  the  right,  deploying  below  Kenesaw  and  facing 
Pine  Hill;  and  Schofield,  somewhat  refused,  was  on  the  gen- 
eral right,  looking  south,  toward  Lost  Mountain. 


28O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"On  the  nth  the  Etowah  bridge  was  done;  the  railroad  was 
repaired  up  to  our  very  skirmish-line,  close  to  the  base  of 
Kenesaw,  and  a  loaded  train  of  cars  came  to  Big  Shanty. 
The  locomotive,  detached,  was  run  forward  to  a  water-tank 
within  the  range  of  the  enemy's  guns  on  Kenesaw,  whence 
the  enemy  opened  fire  on  the  locomotive;  but  the  engineer 
was  not  afraid,  went  on  to  the  tank,  got  water,  and  returned 
safely  to  his  train,  answering  the"  guns  with  the  screams  of 
his  engine,  heightened  by  the  cheers  and  shouts  of  our  men. 

"The  rains  continued  to  pour,  and  made  our  developments 
slow  and  dilatory,  for  there  were  no  roads,  and  these  had  to 
be  improvised  by  each  division  for  its  own  supply-train  from 
the  depot  in  Big  Shanty  to  the  camps.  Meantime  each  army 
was  deploying  carefully  before  the  enemy,  intrenching  every 
camp,  ready  as  against  a  sally.  The  enemy's  cavalry  was 
also  busy  in  our  rear,  compelling  us  to  detach  cavalry  all  the 
way  back  as  far  as  Resaca,  and  to  strengthen  all  the  infantry 
posts  as  far  as  Nashville.  Besides,  there  was  great  danger, 
always  in  my  mind,  that  Forrest  would  collect  a  heavy  cav- 
alry command  in  Mississippi,  cross  the  Tennessee  River,  and 
break  up  our  railroad  below  Nashville.  In  anticipation  of 
this  very  danger,  I  had  sent  General  Sturgis  to  Memphis  to 
take  command  of  all  the  cavalry  in  that  quarter,  to  go  out 
toward  Pontotoc,  engage  Forrest  and  defeat  him;  but  on  the 
I4th  of  June  I  learned  that  General  Sturgis  had  himself  been 
defeated  on  the  loth  of  June,  and  had  been  driven  by  Forrest 
back  into  Memphis  in  considerable  confusion.  I  expected  that 
this  would  soon  be  followed  by  a  general  raid  on  all  our  roads 
in  Tennessee.  General  A.  J.  Smith,  with  the  two  divisions 
of  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps  which  had  been  with 
General  Banks  up  Red  River,  had  returned  from  that  ill-fated 
expedition,  and  had  been  ordered  to  General  Canby  at  New 
Orleans,  who  was  making  a  diversion  about  Mobile;  but,  on 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  28 1 

hearing  of  General  Sturgis'  defeat,  I  ordered  General  Smith 
to  go  out  from  Memphis  and  renew  the  offensive,  so  as  to 
keep  Forrest  off  our  roads.  This  he  did  finally,  defeating 
Forrest  at  Tupelo,  on  the  I3th,  I4th,  and  I5th  days  of  July; 
and  he  so  stirred  up  matters  in  North  Mississippi  that  Forrest 
could  not  leave  for  Tennessee.  This,  for  a  time,  left  me  only 
the  task  of  covering  the  roads  against  such  minor  detachments 
of  cavalry  as  Johnston  could  spare  from  his  immediate  army, 
and  I  proposed  to  keep  these  too  busy  in  their  own  defense 
to  spare  detachments. 

By  the  I4th  the  rain  slackened,  and  we  occupied  a  contin- 
uous line  of  ten  miles,  intrenched,  conforming  to  the  irregular 
position  of  the  enemy,  when  I  reconnoitered,  with  a  view7  to 
make  a  break  in  their  line  between  Kenesaw  and  Pine  Moun- 
tain. When  abreast  of  Pine  Mountain  I  noticed  a  Rebel  bat- 
tery on  its  crest,  with  a  continuous  line  of  fresh  rifle-trench 
about  half-way  down  the  hill.  Our  skirmishers  were  at  the 
time  engaged  in  the  woods  about  the  base  of  this  hill  be- 
tween the  lines,  and  I  estimated  the  distance  to  the  battery 
on  the  crest  at  about  eight  hundred  yards.  Near  it,  in  plain 
view,  stood  a  group  of  the  enemy,  evidently  observing  us  with 
glasses.  General  Howard,  commanding  the  Fourth  Corps, 
was  near  by,  and  I  called  his  attention  to  this  group,  and  or- 
dered him  to  compel  it  to  keep  behind  its  cover.  He  replied 
that  his  orders  from  General  Thomas  were  to  spare  artillery 
ammunition.  This  was  right,  according  to  the  general  policy, 
but  I  explained  to  him  that  we  must  keep  up  the  morale  of  a 
bold  offensive,  that  he  must  use  his  artillery,  force  the  enemy 
to  remain  on  the  timid  defensive,  and  ordered  him  to  cause 
a  battery  close  by  to  fire  three  volleys.  I  continued  to  ride 
down  our  line,  and  soon  heard,  in  quick  succession,  the  three 
volleys.  The  next  division  in  order  was  Geary's,  and  I  gave 
him  similar  orders.  General  Polk,  in  my  opinion,  was  killed 


282  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

by  the  second  volley  fired  from  the  first  battery  referred  to. 
"In  a  conversation  with  General  Johnston,  after  the  war, 
he  explained  that  on  that  day  he  had  ridden  in  person  from 
Marietta  to  Pine  Mountain,  held  by  Bates'  division,  and  was 
accompanied  by  Generals  Hardee  and  Polk.  When  on 
Pine  Mountain,  reconnoitering,  quite  a  group  of  soldiers,  be- 
longing to  the  battery  close  by,  clustered  about  him.  He 
noticed  the  preparations  of  our  battery  to.  fire,  and  cautioned 
these  men  to  scatter.  They  did  so,  and  he  likewise  hurried 
behind  the  parapet,  from  which  he  had  an  equally  good  view 
of  our  position;  but  General  Polk,  who  was  dignified  and 
corpulent,  walked  back  slowly,  not  wishing  to  appear  too 
hurried  or  cautious  in  the  presence  of  the  men,  and  was  struck 
across  the  breast  by  an  unexploded  shell,  which  killed  him 
instantly.  This  is  my  memory  of  the  conversation,  and  it  is 
confirmed  by  Johnston  himself  in  his  'Narrative,'  page  337, 
except  that  he  calculated  the  distance  of  our  battery  at  six 
hundred  yards,  and  says  that  Polk  was  killed  by  the  third  shot; 
I  know  that  our  guns  fired  by  volley,  and  believe  that  he  was 
hit  by  a  shot  of  the  second  volley.  It  has  been  asserted  that 
I  fired  the  gun  which  killed  General  Polk,  and  that  I  knew 
it  was  directed  against  that  general.  The  fact  is,  at  that 
distance  we  could  not  even  tell  that  the  group  were  officers  at 
all;  I  was  on  horseback,  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  off,  before 
my  orders  to  fire  were  executed,  had  no  idea  that  our  shot  had 
taken  effect,  and  continued  my  ride  down  along  the  line  to 
Schofield's  extreme  flank,  returning  late  in  the  evening  to  my 
headquarters  at  Big  Shanty,  where  I  occupied  an  abandoned 
house.  In  a  cotton  field  back  of  that  house  was  our  signal 
station,  on  the  roof  of  an  old  gin-house.  The  signal  officer 
reported  that  by  studying  the  enemy's  signals  he  had  learned 
the  'key,'  and  that  he  could  read  their  signals.  He  explained 
to  me  that  he  had  translated  a  signal  about  noon,  from  Pine 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  283 

Mountain  to  Marietta,  'Send  an  ambulance  for  General  Folk's 
body;'  and  later  in  the  day  another,  'Why  don't  you  send 
an  ambulance  for  General  Polk?'  From  this  we  inferred 
that  General  Polk  had  been  killed,  but  how  or  where  we 
knew  not;  and  this  inference  was  confirmed  later  in  the  same 
day  by  the  report  of  some  prisoners  who  had  been  captured. 

"On  the  1 5th  we  advanced  our  general  lines,  intending  to 
attack  at  any  weak  point  discovered  between  Kenesaw  and 
Pine  Mountain;  but  Pine  Mountain  was  found  to  be  aban- 
doned, and  Johnston  had  contracted  his  front  somewhat,  on 
a  direct  line,  connecting  Kenesaw  with  Lost  Mountain. 
Thomas  and  Schofield  thereby  gained  about  two  miles  of  most 
difficult  country,  and  McPherson's  left  lapped  well  around 
the  north  end  of  Kenesaw.  We  captured  a  good  many  pris- 
oners, among  them  a  whole  infantry  regiment,  the  Four- 
teenth Alabama,  three  hundred  and  twenty  strong. 

"On  the  1 6th  the  general  movement  was  continued,  when 
Lost  Mountain  was  abandoned  by  the  enemy.  Our  right 
naturally  swung  round,  so  as  to  threaten  the  railroad  below 
Marietta,  but  Johnston  had  still  further  contracted  and 
strengthened  his  lines,  covering  Marietta  and  all  the  roads 
below. 

"On  the  i /th  and  i8th  the  rain  again  fell  in  torrents,  mak- 
ing army  movements  impossible,  but  we  devoted  the  time  to 
strengthening  our  positions,  more  especially  the  left  and  cen- 
ter, with  a  view  gradually  to  draw  from  the  left  to  add  to  the 
right;  and  we  had  to  hold  our  lines  on  the  left  extremely 
strong,  to  guard  against  a  sally  from  Kenesaw  against  our 
depot  at  Big  Shanty.  Garrard's  division  of  cavalry  was  kept 
busy  on  our  left,  McPherson  had  gradually  extended  to  his 
right,  enabling  Thomas  to  do  the  same  still  farther;  but  the 
enemy's  position  was  so  very  strong,  and  everywhere  it  was 
covered  by  intrenchments,  that  we  found  it  as  dangerous  to 


284  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

assault  as  a  permanent  fort.  We  in  like  manner  covered  our 
lines  of  battle  by  similar  works,  and  even  our  skirmishers 
learned  to  cover  their  bodies  by  the  simplest  and  best  forms 
of  defensive  works,  such  as  rails,  or  logs,  piled  in  the  form 
of  a  simple  lunette,  covered  outside  with  earth  thrown  up  at 
night. 

"The  enemy  and  ourselves  used  the  same  form  of  rifle- 
trench,  varied  according  to  the  nature  of  the  ground,  viz; 
the  trees  and  bushes  were  cut  away  for  a  hundred  yards  or 
more  in  front,  serving  as  an  abatis  or  entanglement;  the 
parapets  varied  from  four  to  six  feet  high,  the  dirt  taken 
from  a  ditch  outside  and  from  a  covered  way  inside,  and  this 
parapet  was  surmounted  by  a 'head-log, '  composed  of  the 
trunk  of  a  tree  from  twelve  to  twenty  inches  at  the  butt, 
lying  along  the  interior  crest  of  the  parapet  and  resting  in 
notches  cut  in  other  trunks  which  extended  back,  forming  an 
inclined  plane,  in  case  the  head-log  should  be  knocked  in- 
ward by  a  cannon-shot.  The  men  of  both  armies  became 
extremely  skillful  in  the  construction  of  these  works,  because 
each  man  realized  their  value  and  importance  to  himself,  so 
that  it  required  no  orders  for  their  construction.  As  soon  as 
a  regiment  or  brigade  gained  a  position  within  easy  distance 
for  a  sally,  it  would  set  to  work  with  a  will,  and  would  con- 
struct such  a  parapet  in  a  single  night;  but  I  endeavored  to 
spare  the  soldiers  this  hard  labor  by  authorizing  each  divis- 
ion commander  to  organize  out  of  the  freedmen  who  escaped 
to  us  a  pioneer  corps  of  two  hundred  men,  who  were  fed 
out  of  the  regular  army  supplies,  and  I  promised  them  ten 
dollars  a  month,  under  an  existing  act  of  Congress.  These 
pioneer  detachments  became  very  useful  to  us  during  the  rest 
of  the  war,  for  they  could  work  at  night  while  our  men  slept; 
they  in  turn  were  not  expected  to  fight,  and  could  therefore 
sleep  by  day.  Our  enemies  used  their  slaves  for  a  similar 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  28$ 

purpose,  but  usually  kept  them  out  of  the  range  of  fire  by 
employing  them  to  fortify  and  strengthen  the  position  to 
their  rear  next  to  be  occupied  in  their  general  retrograde. 
During  this  campaign  hundreds  if  not  thousands  of  miles 
of  similar  intrenchments  were  built  by  both  armies,  and  as 
a  rule  whichever  party  attacked  one  of  them  got  the  worst 
of  it. 

"On  the  1 0th  of  June  the  Rebel  army  again  fell  back  on  its 
flanks,  to  such  an  extent  that  for  a  time  I  supposed  it  had  re- 
treated to  the  Chattahoochee  River,  fifteen  miles  distant;  but 
as  we  pressed  forward  we  were  soon  undeceived,  for  we 
found  it  still  more  concentrated,  covering  Marietta  and  the 
railroad.  These  successive  contractions  of  the  enemy's  line 
encouraged  us  and  discouraged  him,  but  were  doubtless  justi- 
fied by  sound  reasons.  On  the  2Oth  Johnston's  position  was 
unusually  strong.  Kenesaw  Mountain  was  his  salient;  his 
two  flanks  were  refused  and  covered  by  parapets  and  by 
'Noonday  and  Nose's  Creeks.  His  left  flank  was  his  weak 
point,  so  lon«g  as  he  acted  on  the  'defensive,'  whereas,  had  he 
designed  to  contract  the  extent  of  his  line  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  in  reserve  a  force  with  which  to  strike  'offensively,' 
from  his  right,  he  would  have  done  a  wise  act,  and  I  was  com- 
pelled to  presume  that  such  was  his  object.  We  were  also 
so  far  from  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  that  we  were  natu- 
rally sensitive  for  the  safety  of  our  railroad  and  depots,  so 
that  the  left  [McPherson's]  was  held  very  strong. 

"About  this  time  came  reports  that  a  large  cavalry  force  of 
the  enemy  had  passed  around  our  left  flank,  evidently  to 
strike  this  very  railroad  somewhere  below  Chattanooga.  I 
therefore  reinforced  the  cavalry  stationed  from  Resaca  to 
Cassville,  and  ordered  forward  from  Huntsville,  Alabama,  the 
infantry  division  of  General  John  E.  Smith,  to  hold  Kingston 
securely. 


286  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"While  we  were  thus  engaged  about  Kenesaw,  General 
Grant  had  his  hands  full  with  Lee,  in  Virginia.  General  Hal- 
leek  was  the  chief  of  staff  at  Washington,  and  to  him  I  com- 
municated almost  daily.  I  find  from  my  letter-book  that  on 
the  2ist  of  June,  I  reported  to  him  tersely  and  truly  the  con- 
dition of  facts  on  that  day:  'This  is  the  nineteenth  day  of 
rain,  and  the  prospect  of  fair  weather  is  as  far  off  as  ever. 
The  roads  are  impassable;  the  fields  and  woods  become 
quagmires  after  a  few  wagons  have  crossed  over.  Yet  we 
are  at  work  all  the  time.  The  left  flank  is  across  Noonday 
Creek,  and  the  right  is  across  Nose's  Creek.  The  enemy 
still  holds  Kenesaw,  a  conical  mountain,  with  Marietta  be- 
hind it,  and  has  his  flanks  retired,  to  cover  that  town  and 
the  railroad  behind.  I  am  all  ready  to  attack  the  moment 
the  weather  and  roads  will  permit  troops  and  artillery  to 
move  with  anything  like  life. ' 

"The  weather  has  a  wonderful  effect  on  troops;  in  action 
and  on  the  march,  rain  is  favorable;  but  in  the  woods,  where 
all  is  blind  and  uncertain,  it  seems  almost  impossible  for  an 
army  covering  ten  miles  of  front  to  act  in  concert  during 
wet  and  stormy  weather.  Still  I  pressed  operations  with 
the  utmost  earnestness,  aiming  always  to  keep  our  .  fortified 
lines  in  absolute  contact  with  the  enemy,  while  with  the  sur- 
plus force  we  felt  forward,  from  one  flank  or  the  other,  for  his 
line  of  communication  and  retreat.  On  the  22nd  of  June  I 
rode  the  whole  line,  and  ordered  General  Thomas  in  person 
to  advance  his  extreme  right  corps  [Hooker's]  and  instructed 
General  Schofield,  by  letter,  to  keep  his  entire  army,  viz., 
the  Twenty-third  Corps,  as  a  strong  right  flank  in  close  sup- 
port of  Hooker's  deployed  line.  During  this  day  the  sun 
came  out  with  some  promise  of  clear  weather,  and  I  had  got 
back  to  my  bivouac  about  dark,  when  a  signal-message  was 
received,  dated — 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  28/ 

"<KULP  HOUSE,  5.30  P.  M. 
*" General  SHERMAN: 

"'We  have  repulsed  two  heavy  attacks,  and  feel  confident, 
our  only  apprehension  being  from  our  extreme  right  flank. 
Three  entire  corps  are  in  front  of  us. 

"' Major-General  HOOKER.'" 

"Hooker's  corps  [the  Twentieth]  belonged  to  Thomas' 
army;  Thomas'  headquarters  were  two  miles  nearer  to  Hooker 
than  mine;  and  Hooker,  being  an  old  army  officer,  knew 
that  he  should  have  reported  this  fact  to  Thomas  and  not  to 
me;  I  was,  moreover,  specially  disturbed  by  the  assertion 
in  his  report  that  he  was  uneasy  about  his  right  flank,  when 
Schofield  had  been  specially  ordered  to  protect  that.  I  first 
inquired  of  my  adjutant,  Dayton,  if  he  were  certain  that 
General  Schofield  had  received  his  orders,  and  he  answered 
that  the  envelope  in  which  he  had  sent  them  was  receipted 
by  General  Schofield  himself.  I  knew,  therefore,  that  General 
Schofield  must  be  near  by,  in  close  support  of  Hooker's  right 
flank.  General  Thomas  had  before  this  occasion  complained 
to  me  of  General  Hooker's  disposition  to  'switch  off,'  leav- 
ing wide  gaps  in  his  line,  so  as  to  be  independent,  and  to  make 
glory  on  his  own  account.  I  therefore  resolved  not  to  over- 
look this  breach  of  discipline  and  propriety.  The  Rebel  army 
was  only  composed  of  three  corps;  I  had  that  very  day  ridden 
six  miles  of  their  lines,  found  them  everywhere  strongly  oc- 
cupied, and  therefore  Hooker  could  not  have  encountered 
'three  entire  corps.'  Both  McPherson  and  Schofield  had 
also  complained  to  me  of  this  same  tendency  of  Hooker  to 
widen  the  gap  between  his  own  corps  and  his  proper  army, 
[Thomas'],  so  as  to  come  into  closer  contact  with  one  or 
other  of  the  wings,  asserting  that  he  was  the  senior  by  com- 
mission to  both  McPherson  and  Schofield,  and  that  in  the 


288  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

event  of  battle  he    should  assume   command  over   them,  by 
virtue  of  his  older  commission. 

1  "They  appealed  to  me  to  protect  them.  I  had  heard  dur- 
ing that  day  some  cannonading  and  heavy  firing  down  toward 
the  'Kulp  House,'  which  was  about  five  miles  southeast  of 
where  I  was,  but  this  was  nothing  unusual,  for  at  the  same 
moment  there  was  firing  along  our  lines  full  ten  miles  in  ex- 
tent. Early  the  next  day,  2$d,  I  rode  down  to  the  'Kulp 
House, '  which  was  on  a  road  leading  from  Powder  Springs 
to  Marietta,  about  three  miles  distant  from  the  latter.  On 
the  way  I  passed  through  General  Butterfield's  division  of 
Hooker's  corps,  which  I  learned  had  not  been  engaged  at  all 
in  the  battle  of  the  day  before;  then  I  rode  along  Geary's 
and  Ward's  divisions,  which  occupied  the  field  of  battle,  and 
the  men  were  engaged  in  burying  the  dead.  I  found  Gen- 
eral Schofield 's- Corps  on  the  Powder  Springs  road,  its  head 
of  column  abreast  of  Hooker's  right,  therefore  constituting 
a 'strong  right  flank,'  and  I  met  Generals  Schofield  and 
Hooker  together.  As  rain  was  falling  at  the  moment,  we 
passed  into  a  little  church  standing  by  the  road-side,  and  I 
there  showed  General  Schofield  Hooker's  signal-message  of 
the  day  before.  He  was  very  angry,  and  pretty  sharp  words 
passed  between  them,  Schofield  saying  that  his  head  of 
column  [Hascall's  division]  had  been,  at  the  time  of  the  bat- 
tle, actually  in  advance  of  Hooker's  line;  that  the  attack  or 
sally  of  the  enemy  struck  his  troops  before  it  did  Hooker's; 
that  General  Hooker  knew  of  it  at  the  time;  and  he  offered 
to  go  out  and  show  me  that  the  dead  men  of  his  advance 
division  [Haskell's]  were  lying  farther  out  than  any  of  Hook- 
er's. General  Hooker  pretended  not  to  have  known  this  fact. 
I  then  asked  him  why  he  had  called  on  me  for  help,  until  he 
had  used  all  of  his  own  troops;  asserting  that  I  had  just  seen 
Butterfield's  division,  and  had  learned  from  him  that  he  had 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  289 

not  been  engaged  the  day  before  at  all;  and  I  asserted  that 
the  enemy's  sally  must  have  been  made  by  one  corps, 
[Hood's]  in  place  of  three,  and  that  it  had  fallen  on  Geary's 
and  Williams'  divisions,  which  had  repulsed  the  attack  hand- 
somely. As  we  rode  away  from  that  church  General  Hooker 
was  by  my  side,  and  I  told  him  that  such  a  thing  must  not 
occur  again;  in  other  words,  I  reproved  him  more  gently  than 
the  occasion  demanded,  and  from  that  time  he  began  to 
sulk.  General  Hooker  had  come  from  the  East  with  great 
fame  as  a  'fighter,'  and  at  Chattanooga  he  was  glorified  by 
his  'battle  above  the  clouds,'  which  I  fear  turned  his  head. 
He  seemed  jealous  of  all  the  army  commanders,  because  in 
years,  former  rank,  and  experience,  he  thought  he  was  our 
superior. 

"On  the  23d  of  June,  I  telegraphed  to  General  Halleck  this 
summary,  which  I  cannot  again  better  state: 

"We  continue  to  press  forward  on  the  principle  of  an  advance 
against  fortified  positions.  The  whole  country  is  one  vast 
fort,  and  Johnston  must  have  at  least  fifty  miles  of  connected 
trenches,  with  abatis  and  finished  batteries.  We  gain  ground 
daily,  fighting  all  the  time.  On  the  2ist  General  Stanley 
gained  a  position  near  the  south  end  of  Kenesaw,  from  which 
the  enemy  attempted  in  vain  to  drive  him;  and  the  same 
day  General  T.  J.  Wood's  division  took  a  hill,  which  the  en- 
emy assaulted  three  times  at  night  without  success,  leaving 
more  than  a  hundred  dead  on  the  ground.  Yesterday  the 
extreme  right  (Hooker  and  Schofield)  advanced  on  the  Pow- 
der Springs  road  to  within  three  miles  of  Marietta.  The  en- 
emy made  a  strong  effort  to  drive  them  away,  but  failed  sig- 
nally, leaving  more  than  two  hundred  dead  on  the  field. 
Our  lines  arc  now  in  close  contact,  and  the  fighting  is  inces- 
sant, with  a  good  deal  of  artillery-fire.  As  fast  as  we  gain 
one  position  the  enemy  has  another  all  ready,  but  I  think  he 


2QO  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

will  soon  have  to  let  go  Kenesaw,  which  is  the  key  to  the 
whole  country.  The  weather  is  now  better,  and  the  roads 
are  drying  up  fast.  Our  losses  are  light,  and,  notwithstand- 
ing the  repeated  breaks  of  the  road  to  our  rear,  supplies  are 
ample. 

"During  the  24th  and  25th  of  June,  General  Schofield  ex- 
tended his  right  as  far  as  prudent,  so  as  to  compel  the  enemy 
to  thin  out  his  lines  correspondingly,  with  the  intention  to 
make  two  strong  assaults  at  points  where  success  would  give 
us  the  greatest  advantage.  I  had  consulted  Generals  Thomas, 
McPherson,  and  Schofield,  and  we  all  agreed  that  we  could 
not  with  prudence  stretch  out  any  more,  and  therefore  there 
was  no  alternative  but  to  attack  'fortified  lines,'  a  thing  care- 
fully avoided  up  to  that  time.  I  reasoned,  if  we  could  make 
a  breach  anywhere  near  the  Rebel  center,  and  thrust  in  a 
strong  head  of  column,  that  with  the  one  moiety  of  our  army 
we  could  hold  in  check  the  corresponding  wing  of  the  enemy, 
and  with  the  other  sweep  in  flank  and  overwhelm  the  other 
half.  The  2/th  of  June  was  fixed  as  the  day  for  the  attempt, 
and  in  order  to  oversee  the  whole,  and  to  be  in  close  com- 
munication with  all  parts  of  the  army,  I  had  a  place  cleared 
on  the  top  of  a  hill  to  the  rear  of  Thomas'  center,  and  had 
the  telegraph-wires  laid  to  it.  The  points  of  attack  were 
chosen,  and  the  troops  were  all  prepared  with  as  little  demon- 
stration as  possible.  About  9  A.  M.  of  the  day  appointed, 
the  troops  moved  to  the  assault,  and  all  along  our  lines  for 
ten  miles  a  furious  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry  were  kept 
up.  At  all  points  the  enemy  met  us  with  determined  cour- 
age and  in  great  force.  McPherson 's  attacking  column  fought 
up  the  face  of  the  lesser  Kenesaw,  but  could  not  reach  the 
summit.  About  a  mile  to  the  right,  just  below  the  Dallas 
road,  Thomas'  assaulting  column  reached  the  parapet, 
where  Brigadier-General  Harker  was  shot  down  mortally 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  291 

wounded,  and  Brigadier-General  Daniel  McCook,  my  old 
law-partner,  was  desperately  wounded,  from  the  effects  of 
which  he  afterwards  died.  By  11.30  the  assault  was  in  fact 
over,  and  had  failed.  We  had  not  broken  the  Rebel  line  at 
either  point,  but  our  assaulting  columns  held  their  ground 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  Rebel  trenches,  and  there  covered 
themselves  with  parapet.  McPherson  lost  about  five  hundred 
men  and  several  valuable  officers,  and  Thomas  lost  nearly 
two  thousand  men.  This  was  the  hardest  fight  of  the  cam- 
paign up  to  that  date,  and  it  is  well  described  by  Johnston  in 
his  'Narrative'  (pages  342,  343,)  where  he  admits  his  loss 
in  killed  and  wounded  as — 

MEN. 

Hood's  corps  (not  reported) 

Hardee's  corps 286 

Loring's  (Folk's) :    522 

Total 808 

"This,  no  doubt,  is  a  true  and  fair  statement;  but,  as  usual, 
Johnston  overestimates  our  loss,  putting  it  at  six  thousand, 
whereas  our  entire  loss  was  about  twenty-five  hundred,  killed 
and  wounded. 

"While  the  battle  was  in  progress  at  the  center,  Scho- 
field  crossed  Olley's  Creek  on  the  right,  and  gained 
a  position  threatening  Johnston's  line  of  retreat;  and, 
to  increase  the  effect,  I  ordered  Stoneman's  cavalry  to  pro- 
ceed rapidly  still  farther  to  the  right,  to  Sweetwater.  Sat- 
isfied of  the  bloody  cost  of  attacking  intrenched  lines,  I  at 
once  thought  of  moving  the  whole  army  to  the  railroad  at  a 
point  [Fulton]  about  ten  miles  below  Marietta,  or  to  the  Chat- 
tahoochee  River  itself,  a  movement  similar  to  the  one  after- 
ward so  successfully  practiced  at  Atlanta.  All  the  orders 
were  issued  to  bring  forward  supplies  enough  to  fill  our  wag- 
ons, intending  to  strip  the  railroad  back  to  Allatoona,  and 


292  LIFE    OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

leave  that  place  as  our  depot  to  be  covered  as  well  as  possi- 
ble by  Garrard's  cavalry.  General  Thomas,  as  usual,  shook 
his  head,  deeming  it  risky  to  leave  the  railroad;  but  some- 
thing had  to  be  done,  and  I  had  resolved  on  this  move,  as 
reported  in  my  dispatch  to  General  Halleck  on  July  ist: 
'General  Schofield  is  now  south  of  Olley's  Creek,  and  on 
the  head  of  Nickajack.  I  have  been  hurrying  down  provis- 
ions and  forage,  and  to-morrow  night  propose  to  move  Mc- 
Pherson  from  the  left  to  the  extreme  right,  back  of  General 
Thomas.  This  will  bring  my  right  within  three  miles  of  the 
Chattahoochee  River,  and  about  five  miles  from  the  railroad. 
By  this  movement  I  think  I  can  force  Johnston  to  move  his 
whole  army  down  from  Kenesaw  to  defend  his  railroad  and 
the  Chattahoochee,  when  I  will,  by  the  left  flank,  reach  the 
railroad  below  Marietta;  but  in  this  I  must  cut  loose  from  the 
railroad  with  ten  days'  supplies  in  wagons.  Johnston  may 
come  out  of  his  intrenchments  to  attack  Thomas,  which  is 
exactly  what  I  want,  for  General  Thomas  is  well  intrenched 
on  a  line  parallel  with  the  enemy  south  of  Kenesaw.  I  think 
that  Allatoona  and  the  line  of  the  Etowah  are  strong  enough 
for  me  to  venture  on  this  move.  The  movement  is  substan- 
tially down  the  Sandtown  road  straight  for  Atlanta. ' 

"McPherson  drew  out  of  his  lines  during  the  night  of  July 
2d,  leaving  Garrard's  cavalry  dismounted,  occupying  his 
trenches,  and  moved  to  the  rear  of  the  Army  of  the  Cum- 
berland, stretching  down  the  Nickajack;  but  Johnston  de- 
tected the  movement,  and  promptly  abandoned  Marietta  and 
Kenesaw.  I  expected  as  much,  for,  by  the  earliest  dawn  of 
the  3d  of  July,  I  was  up  at  a  large  spy-glass  mounted  on  a 
tripod,  which  Colonel  Poe,  United  States  Engineers,  had  at 
his  bivouac  close  by  our  camp.  I  directed  the  glass  on  Ken- 
esaw, and  saw  some  of  our  pickets  crawling  up  the  hill  cau- 
tiously; soon  they  stood  upon  the  very  top,  and  I  could  plainly 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  293 

see  their  movements  as  they  ran  along  the  crest  just  aban- 
doned by  the  enemy.  In  a  minute  I  roused  my  staff,  and 
started  them  off  with  orders  in  every  direction  for  a  pursuit 
by  every  possible  road,  hoping  to  catch  Johnston  in  the  con- 
fusion of  retreat,  especially  at  the  crossing  of  the  Chattahoo- 
chee  River." 

General  Johnston  had  prepared  for  this  attempt,  and  had 
covered  his. movement  by  a  strong  tete-de-pont  at  the  Chat- 
tahoochee,  and  had  besides  intrenched  line  across  the  road 
at  Smyrna  Church.  This  caused  a  change  in  his  plans,  and 
General  Sherman,  leaving  a  garrison  at  Marietta,  and  ordering 
General  Logan  to  join  his  army  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nickajack, 
overtook  by  General  Thomas  at  Smyrna.  On  the  4th  of  July 
General  Thomas  pushed  a  force  of  skirmishers  down  the  main 
road,  captured  the  enemy's  pits,  and  made  strong  demon- 
strations along  Nickajack  creek.  This  had  the  desired  effect, 
and  Johnston  fell  back  to  the  Chattahoochee,  covering  the 
crossings  from  Turner's  Ferry  to  the  railroad  bridge,  and 
sending  Wheeler's  and  Jackson's  cavalry  to  the  left  bank. 
On  the  fifth  Sherman  advanced  to  the  Chattahoochee, 
General  Thomas'  left  flank  resting  on  it  near  Price's  Ferry, 
General  McPherson's  right  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nickajack, 
and  General  Schofield  in  reserve.  Heavy  skirmishing  along 
the  front  during  the  day  demonstrated  the  enemy's  position, 
which  could  be  turned  by  crossing  the  main  Chattahoochee 
River,  passable  at  that  stage  of  water  by  means  of  bridges, 
except  very  difficult  fords. 

Conceiving  that  this  would  be  more  easy  of  execution  before 
the  enemy  had  made  more  thorough  preparation  or  regained 
full  confidence,  Sherman  ordered  General  Schofield  to  cross 
to  Smyrna  camp-ground,  near  the  mouth  of  Soap's  Creek, 
and  effect  a  lodgment  on  the  east  bank.  This  was  accom- 
plished on  the  7th  of  July,  General  Schofield  capturing  a  gun, 


294  LIFE    OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

surprising  the  guard,  laying  a  pontoon  bridge  and  a  trestled 
bridge,  and  effecting  a  lodgment  on  high  ground,  with  good 
roads  leading  to  the  east.  At  the  same  time  General  Gar- 
rard,  with  his  cavalry,  moved  on  Roswell,  and  destroyed  the 
cloth  factories  which  had  supplied  the  Rebels.  General  Garrard 
was  ordered  to  secure  the  shallow  ford  at  Roswell,  and  hold 
it  until  he  could  be  relieved  by  infantry;  and  Sherman  or- 
dered General  Thomas  to  send  a  division  of  his  infantry  that 
was  nearest  to  Roswell  to  hold  the  ford  until  General  Mc- 
Pherson  could  send  a  corps  from  the  neighborhood  of  Nicka- 
jack.  General  Newton's  division  was  sent,  and  held  the  ford 
until  the  arrival  of  General  Dodge's  corps,  which  was  followed 
by  the  rest  of  General  McPherson's  army.  General  Howard 
had  built  a  bridge  at  Power's  Ferry,  crossed  over  and  taken 
position  on  his  right.  Thus,  during  the  ninth,  we  had  se- 
cured three  points  of  passage  over  the  Chattahoochee,  with 
good  roads  leading  to  Atlanta.  Learning  this,  Johnston 
crossed  the  river  on  the  night  of  the  ninth,  burning  the 
bridges  in  his  rear.  Thus,  on  the  loth,  Sherman  held  pos- 
session of  the  right  bank  of  the  Chattahoochee.  One  of  the 
chief  objects  of  his  campaign  was  gained;  and  Atlanta  lay  be- 
fore him,  only  eight  miles  distant.  It  was  too  important  a  place 
in  the  hands  of  an  enemy  to  be  left,  with  its  magazines,  arse- 
nals, workshops,  and  railways.  But  the  men  had  worked 
hard,  and  needed  rest. 

In  anticipation  of  this,  Sherman  had  collected  a  well-ap- 
pointed force  of  cavalry,  about  two  thousand  strong,  at  Deca- 
tur,  Alabama,  with  orders,  on  receiving  notice,  to  push  rap- 
idly south,  cross  the  Coosa  at  the  railroad  bridge  or  the  Ten 
Islands,  and  thence  by  the  direct  route  to  Opelika  to  destroy 
the  only  finished  railway  connecting  the  channels  of  travel 
between  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi,  running  from 
Montgomery  to  Opelika,  and  to  cut  off  Johnston's  army  from 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  295 

a  source  of  supply  and  reinforcement.  Major-General  Lov- 
ell  H.  Rosseau,  commanding  the  district  of  Tennessee,  had  re- 
ceived permission  to  command  the  expedition.  As  soon  as 
Johnston  was  across  the  Chattahoochee,  and  Sherman  had 
begun  to  maneuver  on  Atlanta,  the  notice  was  given.  Gen- 
eral Rosseau  started  on  the  loth  of  July,  fulfilled  his  orders 
to  the  letter,  passed  through  Talladega,  reached  the  railway 
on  the  1 6th,  twenty-five  miles  west  of  Opelika,  and  broke  it 
up  at  that  place,  as  well  as  three  miles  of  the  branch  toward 
Columbus,  and  two  miles  toward  West  Point.  He  then 
turned  north,  and,  on  the  22d,  joined  Sherman  at  Mari- 
etta, having  lost  about  thirty  men. 

Some  time  was  employed  in  collecting  stores  at  Allatoona, 
Marietta,  and  Vining's  station,  strengthening  the  railway 
guards  and  garrisons,  and  in  improving  the  roads  leading 
across  the  river.  Generals  Stoneman's  and  McCook's  cav- 
alry had  scouted  down  the  river  to  draw  attention  in  that 
direction,  and  all  being  ready  for  a  general  advance,  on  the 
1 7th,  Sherman  ordered  it  to  commence.  General  Thomas 
was  to  cross  at  Power's  and  Price's  ferry  bridges,  and  march 
by  Buckhead;  Schofield,  who  was  already  across  at  the  mouth 
of  Soap's  Creek,  to  march  by  Cross  Keys;  and  General  Mc- 
Pherson  to  direct  his  course  from  Roswell  directly  against 
the  Augusta  road  at  some  point  east  of  Decatur,  near  Stone 
Mountain.  On  the  i?th  the  army  advanced  from  their  camps, 
and  formed  a  line  along  the  old  Peach-tree  road. 

The  same  day  Jefferson  Davis  relieved  General  Johnston 
from  the  command  of  the  Confederate  Army  of  the  Tennes- 
see, and  designated  Lieutenant-General  J.  B.  Hood  as  his 
successor.  The  telegram  from  General  Samuel  Cooper, 
Adjutant-General  of  the  Confederate  army,  communicating 
this  order,  assigned  as  a  reason  for  it  that  Johnston  had  failed 
to  arrest  the  advance  of  the  Union  Army  to  the  vicinity  of 


296  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

Atlanta,  and  expressed  no  confidence  that  he  could  defeat 
it.  From  the  moment  that  bending  to  the  pressure  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  Jefferson  Davis  had,  against  his  will,  restored 
General  Johnston  to  command  in  the  west,  that  wrong-headed 
man  had  refrained  from  giving  to  his  subordinate  any  assist- 
ance, had  spent  the  time  for  action  in  caviling  at  details,  had 
withheld  the  troops  needed  to  render  offense  or  defense  suc- 
cessful, and  had  left  Johnston  in  entire  ignorance  as  to  the 
approval  of  his  plans  until  their  consummation  afforded  the 
chance  for  his  disgrace.  With  an  army  less  than  half  the 
size  of  Sherman's,  a  victory  by  Johnston  on  the  banks  of 
the  Tennessee,  would  have  proved  indecisive;  while  defeat 
would  have  been  his  utter  destruction.  Falling  back  to  the 
strong  mountain  positions  at  Resaca,  Allatoona,  Ackworth, 
and  Kenesaw,  and  interposing  between  himself  and  the  Union 
army  three  rivers,  the  Oostanaula,  Etowah,  and  Chattahoo- 
chee,  Johnston  had  forced  Sherman  to  consume  seventy-two 
days  in  passing  over  the  hundred  miles  between  Ringgold 
and  Atlanta,  and  there,  behind  secure  fortifications,  with  an 
army  larger  than  at  the  start,  was  preparing  to  attack  the 
Union  army,  largely  reduced  by  losses,  by  detachments,  and 
by  expiration  of  enlistments,  in  a  position  south  of  all  the 
barriers  it  had  passed,  where  a  defeat  would  be  so  far  decisive 
for  Sherman  as  to  cost  him  the  fruits  gained  and  months  of 
delay,  but  indecisive  for  the  Confederates,  who  could  retire 
behind  their  works,  too  strong  for  assault  and  too  extended 
for  investment.  At  this  crisis,  Johnston,  prudent  and  ex- 
haustive in  his  plan?,  and  skillful  in  their  execution,  was  dis- 
placed by  a  successor,  capable  of  fighting,  but  incompetent 
to  direct.  The  Confederate  tactics  changed  at  once  and  the 
battle  which  Johnston  was  about  to  deliver  upon  the  decisive 
point  with  thorough  preparation  was  delivered  by  Hood, 
upon  the  first  point  that  presented  itself,  with  impetuosity. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN  2Q7 

The  Confederate  army,  numbering  forty-one  thousand  in- 
fantry and  artillery  and  ten  thousand  cavalry,  was  now 
strongly  posted,  four  miles  in  front  of  Atlanta,  on  the  hills 
which  form  the  south  bank  of  Peach-tree  Creek,  holding  the 
line  of  that  stream  and  the  Chattahoochee  for  some  distance 
below. 

On  the  1 8th,  continuing  on  a  general  right  wheel,  General 
McPherson  reached  the  Augusta  railway,  seven  miles  east  of 
Decatur,  and  broke  up  a  section  of  about  four  miles.  Gen- 
eral Schofield  reached  Decatur  the  same  day. 

On  the  iQth,  McPherson  turned  along  the  railway  into  Deca- 
tur. Schofield  followed  a  road  toward  Atlanta,  and  Gen- 
eral Thomas  crossed  Peach-tree  Creek  by  numerous  bridges 
in  the  face  of  the  enemy's  lines.  All  found  the  enemy  in 
more  or  less  force  and  skirmished  heavily. 

On  the  2Oth,  all  the  armies  had  closed  in,  toward  Atlanta, 
but  as  a  gap  existed  between  Generals  Schofield  and  Thomas, 
two  divisions  of  General  Howard's  Corps  of  General  Thom- 
as' army  were  moved  to  the  left  to  connect  with  General 
Schofield,  leaving  Newton's  division  of  the  same  Corps  on  the 
Buckhead  road.  On  the  2Oth,  about  4  p.  M.,  the  enemy  sallied 
from  his  works  and  fell  in  line  against  Sherman's  right  cen- 
ter, composed  of  Newton's  division  of  Howard's  Corps,  of 
Hooker's  Corps,  toward  the  south,  and  Johnson's  division  of 
Palmer's  Corps.  The  blow  was  sudden  and  unexpected,  but 
General  Newton  had  covered  his  front  by  a  line  of  rail-piles, 
which  enabled  him  to  repulse  the  attack  on  him.  General 
Hooker's  Corps,  although  uncovered,  and  compelled  to  fight 
on  open  ground  drove  the  enemy  back  to  his  intrenchments. 
The  action  in  front  of  Johnson's  division  was  light,  as  the 
position  was  well  intrenched.  Sherman's  entire  loss  was 
about  fifteen  hundred  killed,  wounded,  and  missing — chiefly 
in  Hooker's  Corps. 


298  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

On  the  22d  Sherman  discovered  that  the  Confederate 
army  had,  during  the  night,  abandoned  the  line  of  Peach-tree 
Creek,  and  fallen  back  to  a  line  of  redoubts,  forming  the  de- 
fenses of  Atlanta,  and  covering  the  approaches  to  that  town. 
These  works  had  been  long  since  prepared,  and  the  enemy 
was  engaged  in  connecting  the  redoubts  with  curtains 
strengthened  by  rifle-trenches.  Sherman's  army  crossed 
Peach-tree  Creek  and  closed  in  upon  Atlanta — McPherson 
on  the  left,  Schofield  next,  and  Thomas  on  the  right. 

General  McPherson,  who  had  advanced  from  Decatur, 
continued  to  follow  the  Augusta  railway,  with  the  Fifteenth 
Corps,  General  Logan,  and  Seventeenth,  General  Blair,  on  its 
left,  and  the  Sixteenth,  General  Dodge,  on  its  right;  but  as  the 
advance  of  all  the  armies  contracted  the  circle,  the  Sixteenth 
Corps  was  thrown  out  of  line  by  the  Fifteenth  connecting 
on  the  right  with  General  Schofield.  General  McPherson,  the 
night  before,  had  gained  a  hill  to  the  south  and  east  of  the 
railway,  where  the  Seventeenth  Corps  had  driven  the  enemy, 
and  it  gave  him  a  commanding  position  within  view  of  the 
heart  of  the  city.  He  had  thrown  out  working  parties  to  it, 
and  was  making  preparations  to  occupy  it  in  strength.  The 
Sixteenth  Corps,  was  ordered  from  right  to  left  to  occupy 
this  position  and  make  it  a  strong  left  flank.  General  Dodge 
was  moving  by  a  diagonal  path  leading  from  the  Decatur 
road  in  the  direction  of  General  Blair's  left. 

About  noon  Hood  attacked.  At  the  first  indications  of  a 
movement,  on  his  flank,  General  McPherson  parted  from 
General  Sherman,  with  whom  he  was  engaged  in  discussing 
the  state  of  affairs  and  rode  off  to  direct  matters  on  the  field. 
In  a  few  moments,  the  sounds  of  musketry  to  McPherson's 
left  and  rear  indicated  to  General  Sherman  Hood's  purpose  of 
throwing  a  superior  force  against  his  left,  while  his  front 
would  be  checked  by  fortifications  of  Atlanta,  and  orders 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  2Q9 

were  at  once  dispatched  to  the  center  and  right  to  press  for- 
ward and  give  employment  to  the  enemy  in  his  lines,  and 
for  General  Schofield  to  hold  a  large  force  in  reserve,  await- 
ing developments.  About  half-past  twleve  o'clock,  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel William  T.  Clark,  Assistant-Adjutant  Gen- 
eral, rode  up  and  communicated  to  General  Sherman  the 
appalling  intelligence  that  General  McPherson  was  either  dead 
or  a  prisoner,  that  he  had  ridden  to  General  Dodge's  column, 
which  was  then  moving,  and  had  sent  off  nearly  all  his  staff 
and  orderlies  on  various  errands,  and  himself  had  passed  into 
a  narrow  path  or  road  that  led  to  the  left  and  rear  of  General 
Giles  A.  Smith's  division,  which  was  General  Blair's  ex- 
treme left;  that  a  few  minutes  after  he  had  entered  the  woods 
a  volley  was  heard  in  that  direction,  and  his  horse  had  come 
out  riderless  and  wounded  in  two  places.  There  was  no  time 
to  yield  to  the  grief  caused  by  this  terrible  calamity.  Not  an 
instant  was  to  be  lost.  Sherman  instantly  dispatched  a  staff- 
officer  to  General  Logan  to  tell  him  what  had  happened  and 
that  he  must  assume  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennes- 
see, and  hold  the  ground  already  chosen,  especially  the  hill 
gained  by  General  Leggett  the  night  before.  The  whole  line 
was  engaged  in  battle.  Hardee's  corps  had  sallied  from  At- 
lanta, and,  by  a  circuit  to  the  east,  had  struck  General  Blair's 
left  flank,  enveloped  it,  and  swung  round  to  the  right  until  it 
struck  General  Dodge  in  motion.  General  Blair's  line  was 
along  the  abandoned  Rebel  trench,  but  it  was  fashioned  to 
fight  outwards.  A  space  of  wooded  ground  of  half  a  mile 
intervened  between  the  head  of  General  Dodge's  column 
and  General  Blair's  line  through  which  the  enemy  poured. 
The  last  order  known  to  have  been  given  by  General  Mc- 
Pherson was  to  hurry  Colonel  Wangelin's  brigade  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps  across  from  the  railway  to  occupy  this  gap. 
Opportunely,  it  came  on  the  double-quick  and  checked  the 


3OO  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

enemy.  While  Hardee  assailed  our  left  flank,  Lieutenant- 
General  A.  P.  Stewart,  who  had  been  placed  in  command  of 
Folk's  corps,  was  intended  to  move  out  from  his  main 
works  and  fall  upon  McPherson  in  front,  but  both  attacks 
were  not  made  simultaneously.  The  enemy  swept  across 
the  hill  which  our  men  were  fortifying,  captured  the  pio- 
neer company,  its  tools,  and  bore  down  on  our  left  until 
he  encountered  General  Giles  A.  Smith's  division  of  the 
Seventeenth  Corps,  who  was  forced  to  fight  first  from  one 
side  of  the  rifle  parapet  and  then  from  the  other,  gradually 
withdrawing,  regiment  by  regiment  to  form  a  flank  to  Gen- 
eral Leggett's  division,  which  held  the  important  position 
on  the  hill.  General  Dodge  held  in  check  the  attack  of 
Hardee' s  corps,  and  punished  him  severely.  General  Giles 
A.  Smith  had  gradually  given  up  the  extremity  of  his  line, 
and  formed  a  new  one,  connected  on  the  right  with  General 
Leggett.  On  this  ground  the  men  fought  desperately  for 
four  hours,  repulsing  all  the  enemy's  attacks.  The  execution 
on  the  enemy's  ranks  at  the  angle  was  terrible,  and  great 
credit  is  ascribed  by  Sherman  to  Generals  Leggett  and  Giles 
A.  Smith  and  their  men  for  their  stubborn  fighting.  The 
enemy  made  no  further  progress  on  that  flank,  and  by  four 
p.  M.  had  given  up  the  attempt.  In  the  meantime,  Garr 
rard's  cavalry  having  been  sent  off  to  Covington,  Wheeler, 
with  his  Confederate  cavalry,  had  reached  Decatur  and 
attempted  to  capture  the  wagon  trains,  but  Colonel  Sprague 
covered  them  with  great  skill,  sending  them  to  the  rear  of 
Generals  Schofield  and  Thomas,  and  not  drawing  back  from 
Decatur  till  every  wagon  was  safe.  On  our  left  the  enemy 
had  taken  Murray's  regular  battery  of  six  guns,  with  its 
horses,  as  it  was  moving  along  unsupported  and  apprehen- 
sive of  danger  in  a  wooded  road  in  the  unguarded  space 
between  the  head  of  General  Dodge's  column  and  the  line 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  301 

of  battle  on  the  ridge  above,  but  most  of  the  men  escaped 
to  the  bushes.  Hardee  also  captured  two  other  guns  on  the 
^extreme  left  flank,  that  were  left  on  the  ground  as  General 
Giles  A.  Smith  drew  off.  About  four  p.  M.  there  was  a  lull, 
during  which  the  enemy  advanced  on  the  railway  and  the 
main  Decatur  road,  and  suddenly  assailed  a  regiment  which, 
with  a  section  of  guns,  had  been  thrown  forward  as  a 
picket,  moved  forward,  and  broke  through  our  lines.  The 
force  on  this  part  of  the  line  had  been  weakened  by  the 
withdrawal  of  Colonel  Martin's  brigade,  and  Lightburn's 
brigade  fell  back  in  some  disorder  to  a  position  held  by  it  the 
night  before,  leaving  the  enemy  for  a  time  in  possession  of 
two  batteries,  including  a  valuable  twenty-pounder  Parrot 
battery  of  four  guns,  and  separating  the  two  divisions  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps,  which  were  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  rail- 
way. 

Being  in  person  close  by,  and  appreciating  the  impor- 
tance of  the  connection  at  that  point,  Sherman  ordered  sev- 
eral batteries  of  Schofield's  army  to  be  moved  to  a  position 
commanding  the  interval  by  a  left-flank  fire,  and  ordered  a 
constant  fire  of  shells  on  the  enemy  within  sight,  and  in  the 
woods  beyond,  to  prevent  his  reinforcing.  Orders  were  also 
sent  to  General  Logan  to  cause  the  Fifteenth  Corps  to  regain 
its  lost  ground  at  any  cost,  and  to  General  Woods,  supported 
by  General  Schofield,  to  use  his  division  and  sweep  the  para- 
pet from  where  he  held  it  until  he  saved  the  batteries.  Lo- 
gan had  anticipated  these  orders,  and  was  already  in  motion. 
The  whole  was  executed  in  grand  style,  our  men  and  the  en- 
emy fighting  across  the  narrow  parapet;  but  at  last  the  enemy 
gave  way,  and  the  Fifteenth  Corps  regained  its  position  and 
all  the  guns  except  the  two  advanced  ones,  wrhich  had  been 
removed  by  the  enemy  within  his  main  work.  With  this  ter- 
minated the  battle  of  the  22d,  which  cost  us  three  thousand 


3O2  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

seven  hundred  and  twenty-two   officers  and  men  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners. 

There  had  been  no  time  for  mourning  over  the  death  of 
McPherson,  though  he  was  one  of  the  most  popular  com- 
manders in  the  army,  both  with  his  fellow  officers  and  with 
those  in  the  ranks.  He  was  a  splendid  specimen  of  man- 
hood, and  never  knew  what  fear  was.  The  Army  of  the 
Tennessee  had  lost  a  commander  in  whom  it  trusted,  and  when 
called  upon  to  avenge  his  death  they  performed  such  deeds  of 
heroism  as  helped  save  the  day  for  their  army,  and  proved 
their  attachment  to  the  dead  chief.  Though  there  was  some 
ill-feeling  caused  by  the  action  of  the  Government  in  rilling 
the  place  of  Major-General  McPherson,  and  one  officer 
thought  his  slight  too  great  to  bear,  the  official  reports  prove 
that  Logan — though  ranking  some  of  the  West  Point  gradu- 
ates, and  though  he  had  earned  any  position  of  responsibility, 
accepted  whatever  place  of  duty  was  assigned  to  him,  and 
filled  it  to  the  fullest  measure.  His  leadership  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Corps  after  the  death  of  McPherson  was  brilliant  in  the 
extreme,  and  won  from  the  Army  commander  strong  enco- 
miums. He  had  taken  command  of  McPherson's  army  at  the 
death  of  its  leader  by  virtue  of  his  rank,  and — a^  was  stated 
by  General  Sherman — "he  had  done  well."  But  the  jealousy 
of  the  West  Point  graduates  made  it  impossible  to  place  him 
in  full  command,  and  Major-General  O.  O.  Howard  was 
chosen.  This  caused  the  immediate  resignation  of  General 
Hooker,  which  was  accepted  promptly,  and  so  far  as  Sher- 
man was  concerned,  gladly.  The  nomination  of  Howard 
was  promptly  confirmed  and  the  operations  against  Atlanta 
pushed  with  vigor.  General  Sherman's  plan  now  was  to 
move  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  to  the  right  boldly  against 
the  railroad  to  the  south  of  Atlanta,  and  to  send  the  cavalry 
around  on  both  sides  to  seize  the  Macon  road  near  Jonesboro. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  303 

The  following  official  reports  are  important  as  showing  the 
progress  up  to  this  time,  and  the  successes  which  attended 
the  movements  of  the  army  immediately  after  the  death  of 
McPherson.  That  Major-General  Logan  was  actuated  by 
motives  of  the  highest  patriotism  was  proved  by  the  encomi- 
ums fairly  extorted  by  him  from  his  superiors,  and  by  the 
immediate  hold  he  had  gained  upon  the  soldiers  mourning 
the  death  of  a  brave  commander. 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD  NEAR  ATLANTA,  Jidy  23,  1864.  ( 

"  General  HALLECK,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"Yesterday  morning  the  enemy  fell  back  to  the  intrench- 
ments  proper  of  the  city  of  Atlanta,  which  are  in  a  general 
circle,  with  a  radius  of  one  and  a  half  miles,  and  we  closed 
in.  While  we  were  forming  our  lines,  and  selecting  positions 
for  our  batteries,  the  enemy  appeared  suddenly  out  of  the 
dense  woods  in  heavy  masses  on  our  extreme  left,  and  struck 
the  Seventeenth  Corps  (General  Blair)  in  flank,  and  was  forc- 
ing it  back,  when  the  Sixteenth  Corps  (General  Dodge)  came 
up  and  checked  the  movement,  but  the  enemy's  cavalry  got 
well  to  our  rear,  and  into  Decatur,  and  for  some  hours  our 
left  flank  was  completely  enveloped.  The  fight  that  resulted 
was  continuous  until  night,  with  heavy  loss  on  both  sides. 
The  enemy  took  one  of  our  batteries  (Murray's  of  the  Regu- 
lar Army)  that  was  marching  in  its  place  in  column  in  the 
road,  unconscious  of  danger.  About  4  P.  M.  the  enemy  sal- 
lied against  the  division  of  General  Morgan  L.  Smith,  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps,  which  occupied  an  abandoned  line  of  rifle- 
trench  near  the  railroad  east  of  the  city,  and  forced  it  back 
some  four  hundred  yards,  leaving  in  his  hands  for  the  time 
two  batteries,  but  the  ground  and  batteries  were  immediately 
after  recovered  by  the  same  troops  reinforced.  I  cannot 


304  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

well  approximate  our  loss,  which  fell  heavily  on  the  Fifteenth 
and  Seventeenth  Corps,  but  count  it  as  three  thousand;  I 
know  that,  being  on  the  defensive,  we  have  inflicted  equally 
heavy  loss  on  the  enemy. 

"General  McPherson,  when   arranging  his  troops  about  11 
A.  M.,  and  passing  from  one  column  to  another,  incautiously 
rode  upon  an  ambuscade  without  apprehension,  at  some  dis- 
tance ahead  of  his  staff  and  orderlies,  and  was  shot  dead. 
"W.   T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding" 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  NEAR  ATLANTA,  GA.,  July  25,  1864  8-A.  M.  ) 

"Major-General  HALLECK,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"GENERAL:  I  find  it  difficult  to  make  prompt  report  of 
results,  coupled  with  some  data  or  information,  without  occa- 
sionally making  mistakes.  McPherson's  sudden  death,  and 
Logan  succeeding  to  th.e  command  as  it  were  in  the  midst  of 
battle,  made  some  confusion  on  our  extreme  left;  but  it  soon 
recovered  and  made  sad  havoc  with  the  enemy,  who  had 
practiced  one  of  his  favorite  games  of  attacking  our  left  when 
in  motion,  and  before  it  had  time  to  cover  its  weak  flank. 
After  riding  over  the  ground  and  hearing  the  varying  state- 
ments of  the  actors,  I  directed  General  Logan  to  make  an 
official  report  of  the  actual,  result  and  I  herewith  inclose 
it. 

"Though  the  number  of  dead  Rebels  sesms  excessive,  I  am 
disposed  to  give  full  credit  to  the  report  that  our  loss,  though 
only  thirty-five  hundred  and  twenty-one  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing,  the  enemy's  dead  alone  on  the  field  nearly 
equaled  that  number,  viz. ,  thirty-two  hundred  and  twenty. 
Happening  at  that  point  of  the  line  when  a  flag  of  truce  was 
sent  in  to  ask  permission  for  each  party  to  bury  its  dead,  I 
gave  General  Logan  authority  to  permit  a  temporary  truce 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  305 

on  that  flank  alone,  while  our  labors  and  fighting   proceeded 
at  all  others. 

"I  also  send  you  a  copy  of  General  Garrard's  report  of  the 
breaking  of  the  railroad  toward  Augusta.  I  am  how  group- 
ing my  command  to  attack  the  Macon  road,  and  with  that 
view  will  intrench  a  strong  line  of  circumvallation  with  flanks, 
so  as  to  have  as  large  an  infantry  column  as  possible,  with 
all  the  cavalry  to  swing  round  to  the  south  and  east,  to  strike 
that  road  at  or  below  East  Point. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  AND  ARMY  OF  THE  TENN.  ,  ) 
BEFORE  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  July  24,  1 864.     ) 

"Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Commanding  Military  Di- 
vision of  the  Mississippi. 

"GENERAL:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  following  gen- 
eral summary  of  the  result  of  the  attack  of  the  enemy  on  this 
army  on  the  22d  inst: 

"Total  loss,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  thirty-five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-one,  and  ten  pieces  of  artillery. 

"We  have  buried  and  delivered  to  the  enemy,  under  a  flag 
of  truce  sent  in  by  them,  in  front  of  the  Third  division,  Sev- 
enteenth corps,  one  thousand  of  their  killed. 

"The  number  aof  their  dead  in  front  of  the  Fourth  division 
of  the  same  corps,  including  those  on  the  ground  not  now 
occupied  by  our  troops,  General  Blair  reports,  will  swell  the 
number  of  their  dead  on  his  front  to  two  thousand. 

"The  number  of  their  dead  buried  in  front  of  the  Fifteenth 
Corps,  up  to  this  hour,  is  three  hundred  and  sixty,  and  the 
commanding  officer  reports  that  at  least  as  many  more  are 
yet  unburied,  burying  parties  being  still  at  work. 

"The  number  of  dead  buried  in  front  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps 

20 


3O6  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

is  four  hundred  and  twenty-two.  We  have  over  one  thousand 
of  their  wounded  in  our  hands,  the  larger  number  of  the 
wounded  being  carried  off  during  the  night,  after  the  engage- 
ment, by  them. 

"We  captured  eighteen  stands  of  colors,  and  have  them 
now.  We  also  captured  five  thousand  stands  of  arms. 

"The  attack  was  made  on  our  lines  seven  times,  and  was 
seven  times  repulsed.  Hood's  and  Hardee's  Corps  and 
Wheeler's  cavalry  engaged  us. 

"We  have  sent  to  the  rear  one  thousand  prisoners,  includ- 
ing thirty-three  commissioned  officers  of  high  rank. 

"We  still  occupy  the  field,  and  the  troops  are  in  fine  spir- 
its. A  detailed  and  full  report  will  be  furnished  as  soon  as 
completed. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Our  total  loss  ..................................  3,  52  1 

Enemy's  dead,  thus  far  reported,  buried  and  deliv- 

ered to  them  ..............................  3,  220 

Total  prisoners  sent  North  ......................  1,017 

Total  prisoners,  wounded,  in  our  hands  ............  1,000 

Estimated  loss  of  the  enemy,  at  least  .............  10,000 

"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"JOHN  A.  LOGAN,  Major  -General" 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  ) 
BEFORE  ATLANTA,  GA.,   July  29,  1864.  j 


.  CLARK,  Assistant  Adjutant- 
General,  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  present. 
"COLONEL:      I  have  the  honor  to  report  that,  in  pursuance 
of  orders,  I  moved   my  command  into  position  on  the  right 
of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  which  was  the   extreme    right    of 
the    army    in    the    field,  during   the  night  of  the   2  7th   and 
morning  of  the    28th;  and,  while  advancing  in  line  of  battle 
to  a  more  favorable  position,  we  were  met   by  the  Rebel  in- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  307 

fantry  of  Hardee's  and  Lee's  corps,  who  made  a  determined 
and  desperate  attack  on  us  at  11.30  A.  M.  of  the  28th,  yes- 
terday. 

"My  lines  were  only  protected  by  logs  and  rails,  hastily 
thrown  up  in  front  of  them. 

"The  onset  was  received  and  checked,  and  the  battle  com- 
menced and  lasted  until  about  three  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
During  that  time  six  successive  charges  were  made,  which 
were  six  times  gallantly  repulsed,  each  time  with  fearful  loss 
to  the  enemy. 

"Later  in  the  evening  my  lines  were  several  times  assaulted 
vigorously,  but  each  time  with  like  result. 

"The  worst  of  the  righting  occurred  on  General  Harrow's 
and  Morgan  L.  Smith's  fronts,  which  formed  the  center  and 
right'  of  the  corps. 

"The  troops  could  not  have  displayed  greater  courage,  nor 
greater  determination  not  to  give  ground;  had  they  shown 
less,  they  would  have  been  driven  from  their  position. 

"Brigadier-Generals  C.  R.  Woods,  Harrow,  and  Morgan  L. 
Smith,  division  commanders,  are  entitled  to  equal  credit  for 
gallant  conduct  and  skill  in  repelling  the  assault. 

"My  thanks  are  due  to  Major-Generals  Blair  and  Dodge  for 
sending  me  reinforcements  at  a  time  when  they  were  much 
needed. 

"My  losses  were  fifty  killed,  four  hundred  and  forty-nine 
wounded,  and  seventy-three  missing;  aggregate,  five  hundred 
and  seventy-two. 

"The  division  of  General  Harrow  captured  five  battle-flags. 
There  were  about  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand  mus- 
kets left  on  the  ground.  One  hundred  and  six  prisoners 
were  captured,  exclusive  of  seventy-three  wounded,  who  were 
sent  to  our  hospital,  and  are  being  cared  for  by  our  surgeons. 

"Five  hundred  and  sixty-five  Rebels  have  up  to  this  time 


308  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

been  buried,  and  about   two   hundred  are  supposed  to  be  yet 
unburied. 

"A  large  number  of  their  wounded  were  undoubtedly  carried 
away  in  the  night,  as  the  enemy  did  not  withdraw  till  near 
daylight.  The  enemy's  loss  could  not  have  been  less  than 
six  or  seven  thousand  men. 

"A  more  detailed  report  will  hereafter  be  made. 

"I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"JOHN  A.  LOGAN." 

" Major-General,  commanding  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  " 
General  Howard,  in  transmitting  this  report  added: 

"I  wish  to  express  my  high  gratification  with  the  conduct 
of  the  troops  engaged.  I  never  saw  better  conduct  in  battle. 
General  Logan,  though  ill  and  much  worn  out,  was  indefati- 
gable, and  the  success  of  the  day  is  as  much  attributable  to 
him  as  to  any  one  man."  . 

Everything  was  in  readiness,  and  the  orders  had  all  been 
given,  when,  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  General  Sherman 
received  a  request  from  General  Stoneman  asking  permission 
after  breaking  the  railway,  to  proceed  with  his  command  to 
Macon  and  Andersonville,  and  release  our  prisoners  of  war 
thirty  thousand  in  number,  suffering  the  extremities  of  star- 
vation, and  rotting  by  hundreds  from  the  loathsome  diseases 
that  follow  in  its  train.  "There  was  something  captivating 
in  the  idea,"  says  Sherman,  and  deeming  the  execution  within 
the  bounds  of  probable  success,  he  consented  that  after  the 
defeat  of  Wheeler's  cavalry  and  breaking  the  road,  General 
Stoneman  might  make  the  attempt  with  his  cavalry  proper, 
sending  that  of  General  Garrard  back.  Both  cavalry  expedi- 
tions started  at  the  time  fixed. 

"General  McCook,  in  the  execution  of  his  part  of  the  move- 


SHERMAN   AT   ATLANTA. 


310  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

ment,  went  down  the  west  bank  of  the  Chattahoochee  to  neai 
Rivertown,  where  he  laid  a  pontoon  bridge  with  which  he  was 
provided,  crossed  his  command  and  moved  rapidly  on  Pal- 
metto station,  on  the  West  Point  railway,  here  he  tore  up  a 
section  of  track,  leaving  a  regiment  to  create  a  diversion  to- 
ward Campbelltown,  which  was  successfully  accomplished. 
McCook  then  rapidly  moved  to  Fayetteville,  where  he  found 
a  large  number  of  wagons  belonging  to  the  Rebel  army  in  At- 
lanta, killed  eight  hundred  mules,  and  captured  two  hundred 
and  fifty  prisoners.  He  then  pushed  for  the  Macon  railway, 
reached  it  at  Lovejoy's  station  at  the  time  appointed,  burned 
the  depot,  tore  up  a  section  of  the  road,  and  continued  to 
work  until  forced  to  leave  off  to  defend  himself  against  an 
accumulating  force  of  the  enemy.  He  could  hear  nothing  of 
General  Stoneman,  and,  finding  his  progress  east  too  strongly 
opposed,  moved  south,  and  west,  and  reached  Newman  on 
trhe  West  Point  road,  where  he  encountered  an  infantry  force 
coming  from  Mississippi  to  Atlanta,  and  which  had  been 
stopped  by  the  break  he  had  made  at  Palmetto.  This  force, 
with  the  pursuing  cavalry,  hemmed  him  in  and  forced  him  to 
fight.  He  was  compelled  to  drop  his  prisoners  and  captures 
and  cut  his  way  out,  losing  some  five  hundred  officers  and 
men;  among  them  Colonel  Harrison,  Eighth  Indiana  Caval- 
ry, a  valuable  officer,  who  was  taken  prisoner  while  fighting 
his  men  as  skirmishers  on  foot.  McCook  succeeded,  how- 
ever, in  cutting  his  way  out,  reaching  the  Chattahoochee, 
crossed  the  river,  and  got  to  Marietta  without  further  loss." 

Sberman  says  in  his  official  report:  — 

"'General  McCook  is  entitled  to  much  for  thus  saving  his 
command,  which  was  endangered  by  the  failure  of  General 
Stoneman  to  reach  Lovejoy's.  But  on  the  whole,  the  cavalry 
raid  is  not  deemed  a  success,  for  the  real  purpose  was  to 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  311 

break  the  enemy's  communications,  which,  though  done,  was 
on  so  limited  a  scale  that  I  knew  the  damage  would  soon  be 
repaired. ' 

"Pursuant  to  the  general  plan,  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
drew  out  of  its  lines  on  the  left,  near  the  Decatur  road,  dur- 
ing the  night  of  July  26th,  and  on  the  2/th  moved  behind  the 
rest  of  the  army  to  Proctor's  Creek,  the  extreme  right  beyond 
it,  to  prolong  the  line  due  south,  facing  east.  On  the  same 
day,  by  appointment  of  the  President,  Major-General  Oliver 
O.  Howard  assumed  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
relieving  General  Logan,  who  had  exercised  the  command 
with  great  ability  since  the  death  of  McPherson  on  the  22d, 
and  who  now  returned  to  the  immediate  charge  of  his  own 
Fifteenth  Corps.  Dodge  got  into  line  on  the  evening  of  the 
27th,  and  Blair  came  into  position  on  the  right  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  28th,  his  right  reaching  an  old  meeting-house, 
called  Ezra  Church,  on  the  Bell's  Ferry  road.  Here  Logan's 
Fifteenth  Corps  joined  on  and  formed  the  extreme  right  flank 
of  the  army  before  Atlanta,  along  a  wooded  and  command- 
ing ridge.  About  ten  A.  M.,  all  the  army  was  in  position,  and 
the  men  were  busy  in  throwing  up  their  accustomed  piles  of 
rails  and  logs,  which  after  awhile,  assumed  the  form  of  a 
parapet.  In  order  to  be  prepared  to  defeat  the  enemy  if  he 
should  repeat  his  game  of  the  22d,  Sherman  had,  the  night 
before,  ordered  Jefferson  C.  Davis'  division,  of  Palmer's 
Fourteenth  Corps,  which,  by  the  movement  of  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee,  had  been  left  in  reserve,  to  move  down  to 
Turner's  Ferry,  and  thence  toward  White  Hall  or  East  Point, 
aiming  to  reach  the  flank  of  Howard's  new  line.  The  object 
of  this  movement  was  that  in  case  of  an  attack  this  division 
might  in  turn  catch  the  attacking  force  in  flank  or  rear  at  an 
expected  moment.  Brigadier-General  Morgan,  who  com- 
manded the  division  during  the  temporary  illness  of  General 


312  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Davis,  marched  early  for  Turner's  Ferry,  but  many  of  the 
roads  laid  down  on  the  maps  did  not  exist  at  all;  and  from 
this  cause,  and  the  intricate  nature  of  the  wooded  ground, 
great  delay  was  experienced.  About  noon,  Hardee  and  Lee 
sallied  forth  from  Atlanta  by  the  Bell's  Ferry  road,  and 
formed  their  masses  in  the  open  fields  behind  a  swell  of  ground, 
and  after  some  heavy  artillery  firing,  advanced  in  parallel 
lines  against  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  expecting  to  catch  it  in  air. 
The  advance  was  magnificent;  but  Sherman  had  prepared  for 
this  very  contingency;  our  troops  were  expecting  this 
attack,  and  met  it  with  a  galling  and  coolly  delivered  fire  of 
musketry  that  swept  the  ranks  of  the  enemy  and  drove  him 
back  in  confusion.  But  they  were  rallied  again  and  again, 
as  often  as  six  times  at  some  points,  and  a  few  of  the  Rebel 
officers  and  men  reached  our  lines  of  rail  piles  only  to  be 
hauled  over  as  prisoners.  About  four  p.  M.,  the  enemy  dis- 
appeared, leaving  his  dead  and  wounded  in  our  hands.  Gen- 
eral Logan  on  this  occasion  was  again  conspicuous,  his  corps 
being  chiefly  engaged.  Our  entire  loss  was  less  than  six 
hundred.  Had  Davis'  division  not  been  delayed  by  causes 
beyond  control,  what  was  simply  a  complete  repulse  of  the 
enemy  would  have  been  a  disastrous  rout.  Instructed  by 
the  terrible  lessons  of  the  22d  and  28th  of  July,  Hood  aban- 
doned his  rash  offensive,  and  assumed  a  strict  defensive  atti- 
tude, merely  meeting  Sherman's  successive  extensions  of  his 
right  flank  by  continuing  his  own  line  of  works  to  the  south. 
"Finding  that  the  right  flank  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
did  not  reach  to  East  Point,  Sherman  was  forced  to  transfer 
Schofield  to  that  flank  also,  and  afterwards  Palmer's  Four- 
teenth Corps  of  Thomas'  army.  Schofield  moved  from  the 
left  on  the  ist  of  August,  and  Palmer's  corps  followed  at 
once  taking  a  line  below  Utoy  Creek,  which  Schofield  pro- 
longed to  a  point  near  East  Point. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  313 

"About  the  ist  of  August,  General  Hooker,  deeming  himself 
aggrieved  by  the  promotion  of  General  Howard,  who  had 
served  under  him  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  had  but 
recently  come  to  the  West  as  his  subordinate,  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  was,  at  his  own  request, 
relieved  from  command  of  the  Twentieth  Corps  and  ordered 
to  report  to  the  Adjutant-General  at  Washington.  Major- 
General  Henry  W.  Slocum,  then  at  Vicksburg,  was  sent  for 
to  assume  the  command,  which  until  his  arrival,  devolved 
upon  Brigadier-General  A.  S.  Williams.  Brigadier-General 
Jefferson  C.  Davis  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  the 
Fourteenth  Corps,  in  lieu  of  General  Palmer,  relieved  at  his 
own  request;  and  Major-General  D.  S.  Stanley  succeeded  to 
the  command  of  the  Fourth  Corps,  vacated  by  General  How- 
ard. 

"From  the  2d  to  the  5th,  Sherman  continued  to  extend  to 

the  right,  demonstrating  strongly  on  the  left  and  along  the 
whole  line.  Reilley's  brigade  of  Cox's  division  of  Schofield's 
army,  on  the  5th  tried  to  break  through  the  enemy's  line 
about  a  mile  below  Utoy  Creek,  but  failed  to  carry  the  posi- 
tion, losing  about  four  hundred  men,  who  were  caught  by  the 
entanglements  and  abatis;  but  the  next  day  this  position 
was  turned  by  General  Hascall,  and  General  Schofield  ad- 
vanced his  whole  line  close  up  to  and  facing  the  enemy  below 
Utoy  Creek.  Still  he  did  not  gain  the  desired  foothold  on 
either  the  West  Point  or  Macon  railway.  The  enemy's  line 
at  that  time  was  nearly  fifteen  miles  in  length,  extending 
from  near  Decatur  to  below  East  Point.  He  was  enabled  to 
hold  this  long  and  attenuated  front  by  the  use  of  a  large 
force  of  State  militia,  and  his  position  was  so  masked  by  the 
shape  of  the  ground  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  Union 
commanders  to  discover  the  weak  parts. 

"To  reach  the  Macon  road,  Sherman  now  saw  he  would 


314  LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

have  to  move  the  whole  army;  but  before  beginning,  he 
ordered  down  from  Chattanooga  some  four-and-a-half-inch 
rifled  guns,  which  arrived  on  the  loth,  and  were  put  to  work 
night  and  day,  and  did  execution  on  the  city,  causing  frequent 
fires  and  creating  confusion. 

"On  the  1 6th  of  August,  Sherman  issued  orders  prescribing 
the  mode  and  manner  of  executing  the  grand  movement  by 
the  right  flank,  to  begin  on  the  i8th.  This  movement  con- 
templated the  withdrawal  of  the  Twentieth  Corps,  General 
Williams,  to  the  intrenched  position  at  the  Chattahoochee 
bridge,  and  the  march  of  the  main  army  to  the  West  Point  rail- 
way, near  Fairburn,  and  thence  to  the  Macon  road,  at  or  near 
Jonesboro',  with  wagons  carrying  provisions  for  fifteen  days. 
About  the  time  of  the  publication  of  these  orders,  Wheeler, 
with  his  corps  of  ten  thousand  cavalry,  was  detached  by  Gen- 
eral Hood  to  break  up  the  Union  communications.  Passing 
round  by  the  East  and  North,  Wheeler  made  his  appearance 
on  the  Chattanooga  railway,  near  Adairsville,  capturing  nine 
hundred  beef-cattle,  and  made  a  break  in  the  road  near  Cal- 
houn.  Hood  could  not  have  more  distinctly  evinced  his  want 
of  mental  perspective  than  by  detaching  so  large  a  force  on 
the  eve  of  a  battle  momentarily  to  be  expected.  At  the  best, 
Wheeler  could  only  annoy  Sherman;  his  absence  might  de- 
stroy Hood.  Sherman  was  not  slow  to  take  advantage  of  a 
blunder  so  well-timed  for  his  plans.  Suspending  the  execu- 
tion of  his  orders  for  the  time  being,  he  directed  General  Kil- 
patrick  to  make  up  a  well-appointed  force  of  about  five  thou- 
sand cavalry,  to  move  from  his  camp  about  Sandtown  during 
the  night  of  the  i8th  to  the  West  Point  railway,  and  effectu- 
ally break  it  near  Fairburn;  then  to  proceed  across  to  the 
Macon  railway,  and  thoroughly  destroy  it;  to  avoid,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  enemy's  infantry,  but  to  attack  any  cavalry 
he  could  find.  Sherman  expected  that  this  cavalry  expedi- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  315 

tion  would  save  the  necessity  of  moving  the  main  army 
across,  and  that  in  case  of  success  it  would  leave  him  in  a 
better  position  to  take  full  advantage  of  the  result. 

"Kilpatrick  got  off  at  the  time  appointed,  broke  the  West 
Point  road,  and  afterwards  reached  the  Macon  road  at  Jones- 
boro',  where  he  whipped  Ross*  cavalry,  and  got  possession  of 
the  railway,  which  he  held  for  five  hours,  damaging  it  con- 
siderably; but  a  brigade  of  the  enemy's  infantry,  which  had 
been  dispatched  below  Jonesboro'  in  cars,  was  run  back  and 
disembarked,  and,  with  Jackson's  Rebel  cavalry,  made  it  im- 
possible for  him  to  continue  his  work.  He  drew  off  to  the 
east,  made  a  circuit,  and  struck  the  railway  about  Lovejoy's 
Station,  but  was  again  threatened  by  the  enemy,  who  moved 
on  shorter  lines;  when  he  charged  through  their  cavalry,  tak- 
ing many  prisoners,  of  whom  he  brought  in  seventy,  and 
captured  a  four-gun  battery,  of  which  he  brought  in  one  gun 
and  destroyed  the  others.  Returning  by  a  circuit  north  and 
east,  Kilpatrick  reached  Decatur  on  the  22d.  He  estimated 
the  damage  done  to  the  railway  as  sufficient  to  interrupt  its 
use  for  ten  days;  but,  upon  learning  all  the  details  of  the  ex- 
pedition, Sherman  became  satisfied  that  it  had  not  accom- 
plished the  chief  object  in  view,  and  accordingly  at  once  re- 
newed his  original  orders  for  the  movement  of  the  whole 
army. 

"This  involved  the  necessity  of  raising  the  siege  of  Atlanta, 
taking  the  field  with  the  main  force,  and  using  it  against  the 
communications  of  Atlanta,  instead  of  against  its  intrench- 
ments.  The  army  commanders  were  immediately  notified  to 
send  their  surplus  wagons,  encumbrances,  and  sick  back  to 
the  intrenched  position  at  the  bridge  over  the  Chattahoochee, 
and  that  the  movement  would  begin  during  the  night  of  the 
25th.  Accordingly,  all  things  being  ready,  the  Fourth  Corps, 
General  Stanley,  drew  out  of  its  lines  on  the  extreme  left, 


316  LIFE   OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

and  marched  to  a  position  below  Proctor's  Creek,  while  the 
Twentieth  Corps,  General  Williams,  moved  back  to  the  river. 
Both  movements  were  effected  without  loss.  On  the  night 
of  the  26th,  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  broke  camp,  and 
moved  rapidly  by  a  circuit  toward  Sandtown  and  across 
Camp  Creek,  a  small  stream  about  a  mile  below  Proctor's 
Creek;  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  moved  below  Utoy 
Creek,  while  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  remained  in  position  to 
mask  the  movement,  which  was  attended  with  the  loss  of  but 
a  single  man  in  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  wounded  by  a 
shell.  On  the  27th,  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  moved  to 
the  West  Point  railway,  above  Fairburn;  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  to  Red  Oak,  and  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  closed  in 
near  Diggs'  and  Mims'.  The  three  columns  were  thus  massed 
on  the  line  of  the  West  Point  railway  from  Diggs',  two  miles 
below  East  Point,  to  within  an  equal  distance  of  Fairburn. 
The  28th  was  consumed  in  destroying  the  road.  For  twelve 
and  a  half  miles  the  ties  were  burned,  and  the  iron  rails 
heated  and  twisted  with  the  utmost  ingenuity  of  old  hands 
at  the  work.  Several  cuts  were  filled  up  with  the  trunks  of 
trees,  logs,  rock,  and  earth,  intermingled  with  loaded  shells, 
prepared  as  torpedoes,  to  explode  in  case  of  an  attempt  to 
clear  them  out.  Having  personally  inspected  this  work,  and 
being  satisfied  with  its  execution,  Sherman  ordered  the  whole 
army  to  face  eastward  and  move  the  next  day  by  several 
roads:  General  Howard,  on  the  right,  towards  Jonesboro', 
General  Thomas  in  the  center  to  Couch's  on  the  Decatur  and 
Fayetteville  road  and  General  Schofield  on  the  left,  by  Mor- 
row's Mills.  The  railway  from  Atlanta  to  Macon  follows 
substantially  the  ridge  which  divides  the  waters  of  the  Flint 
and  Ocmulgee  Rivers,  and  from  East  Point  to  Jonesboro', 
makes  a  wide  bend  to  the  east.  The  position  now  selected 
by  Sherman,  parallel  to  the  railway,  facing  eastwardly,  was 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

therefore  a  very  important  one,  and  he  was  anxious  to  seize 
it  as  a  necessary  preliminary  to  his  ulterior  movements. 

"The  several  columns  moved  punctually  on  the  morning  of 
the  29th.  General  Thomas,  who  encountered  little  opposi- 
tion or  difficulty,  save  what  resulted  from  the  narrow  roads, 
reached  his  position  at  Couch's  early  in  the  afternoon.  Gen- 
eral Schofield,  being  closer  to  the  enemy,  who  still  clung  to 
East  Point,  moved  cautiously  on  a  small  circle  around  that 
point,  and  came  into  position  toward  Rough  and  Ready;  and 
General  Howard,  having  the  outer  circle,  and  consequently 
a  greater  distance  to  move,  encountered  cavalry,  which  he 
drove  rapidly  to  the  crossing  of  Shoal  Creek.  Here  a  short 
delay  occurred,  and  some  cannonading  and  skirmishing,  but 
Howard  soon  drove  the  enemy,  passed  the  Renfrew  House, 
on  the  Decatur  road,  which  was  the  point  indicated  for  him 
in  the  orders  of  the  day,  and  wisely  pushed  his  march  toward 
Jonesboro',  saved  the  bridge  across  Flint  River,  and  halted 
only  when  the  darkness  compelled  him,  within  half  a  mile  of 
Jonesboro'.  Here  he  rested  for  the  night,  and  on  the  next 
morning,  finding  himself  in  the  presence  of  a  heavy  force  of 
the  enemy,  he  deployed  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  and  disposed 
the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  on  its  left  and  right  flanks. 
The  men  covered  their  front  with  the  usual  parapet,  and  were 
soon  prepared  to  act  offensively  or  defensively,  as  the  cace 
called  for. 

"As  soon  as  Sherman,  who  made  his  headquarters  with 
Thomas  at  Couch's,  learned  that  General  Howard  had  passed 
Renfrew's,  he  directed  General  Thomas  to  send  to  that  place 
a  division  of  General  Jefferson  C.  Davis'  Fourteenth  Corps, 
to  move  General  Stanley's  Fourth  Corps,  in  connection  with 
General  Schofield,  toward  Rough  and  Ready,  and  then  to 
send  forward  due  east  a  strong  detachment  of  General  Davis' 
Corps  to  feel  for  the  railway.  General  Schofield  was  also 


3l8  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

ordered  to  move  boldly  forward  and  strike  the  railroad  near 
Rough  and  Ready.  These  movements  were  progressing 
during  the  3ist,  when  Stephen  D.  Lee's  and  Hardee's  Corps 
of  the  enemy  came  out  of  the  works  at  Jonesboro',  and 
attacked  General  Howard  in  the  position  just  described. 
After  a  contest  of  over  two  hours,  the  attack  was  repulsed, 
with  great  loss  to  the  enemy,  who  withdrew,  leaving  his 
dead  and  many  wounded  on  the  ground. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Sherman  was  aiming  to  get  his  left  and 
center  between  Stewart's  Corps  remaining  at  Atlanta,  and  the 
Corps  of  Hardee  and  Lee  engaged  in  Howard's  front.  Gen- 
eral Schofield  had  reached  the  railway,  a  mile  below  Rough 
and  Ready,  and  was  working  up  the  road,  breaking  it  as  he 
went;  General  Stanley,  of  General  Thomas'  army,  had  also 
struck  the  road  below  General  Schofield,  and  was  destroying 
it,  working  south;  and  Baird's  division  of  Davis'  Corps  had 
struck  it  still  lower  down,  within  four  miles  of  Jonesboro'. 

"The  Confederate  forces  being  thus  divided,  orders  were  at 
once  given  for  all  the  army  to  turn  on  the  fraction  at  Jones- 
boro' ;  General  Howard  to  keep  the  enemy  busy,  while  General 
Thomas  should  move  down  from  the  north,  with  General 
Schofield  on  his  left.  The  troops  were  also  ordered  as  they 
moved  down  to  continue  the  thorough  destruction  of  the  rail- 
way, as  it  was  impossible  to  say  how  soon  our  hold  of  it 
might  be  relinquished,  from  the  necessity  of  giving  attention 
in  other  quarters.  General  Garrard's  cavalry  was  directed 
to  watch  the  roads  to  the  north,  and  General  Kilpatrick  was 
sent  south,  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Flint,  with  instructions 
to  attack  or  threaten  the  railway  below  Jonesboro'.  On  the 
ist  of  September  Davis'  Corps,  having  a  shorter  distance  to 
travel,  was  deployed,  facing  south,  his  right  in  connection 
with  General  Howard,  and  his  left  on  the  railway;  while  Gen- 
eral Stanley  and  General  Schofield  were  coming  down  the 


LIFE   OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  3IQ 

Rough  and  Ready  road,  and  along  the  railway,  breaking  it  as 
they  came.  When  General  Davis  joined  to  General  How- 
ard, Blair's  Corps,  on  General  Howard's  left,  was  thrown  in 
reserve,  and  was  immediately  sent  well  to  the  right  below 
Jonesboro',  to  act  on  that  flank  in  conjunction  with  General 
Kilpatrick's.  About  5  p.  M.  General  Davis  assaulted  the 
enemy's  lines  across  open  fields,  carrying  them  very  hand- 
somely, and  taking  as  prisoners  the  greater  part  of  Gowan's 
brigade,  including  its  commander,  with  two  four-gun  bat- 
teries. Repeated  orders  were  sent  to  Generals  Stanley  and 
Schofield  to  hasten  their  movements,  but  owing  to  the  diffi- 
cult nature  of  the  country  and  the  absence  of  roads,  they  did 
not  get  well  into  position  for  attack  before  night  rendered 
further  operations  impossible.  About  2  o'clock  that  night, 
the  sounds  of  heavy  explosions  were  heard  in  the  direction  of 
Atlanta,  distant  about  twenty  miles,  with  a  succession  of 
minor  explosions,  and  what  seemed  like  the  rapid  firing  of 
cannon  and  musketry.  These  sounds  continued  for  about 
an  hour,  and  again  about  4  A.  M.  occurred  another  series  of 
similar  discharges,  apparently  nearer,  which  could  be  ac- 
counted for  on  no  other  hypothesis  than  of  a  night  attack  on 
Atlanta  by  General  Slocum,  or  the  blowing  up  of  the  enemy's 
magazines.  At  daybreak  it  was  discovered  that  Hardee  and 
Lee  had  abandoned  their  lines  at  Jonesboro',  and  Sherman 
ordered  a  general  pursuit  south;  General  Thomas  following 
to  the  left  of  the  railway,  General  Howard  on  its  right,  and 
General  Schofield  diverging  two  miles  to  the  east.  Near 
Lovejoy's  Station  the  enemy  was  again  overtaken  in  a  strong 
intrenched  position,  with  his  flanks  well  protected,  behind  a 
branch  of  Walnut  Creek  to  the  right,  and  a  confluent  of  the 
Flint  River  to  his  left.  Pushing  close  up  and  reconnnoitering 
the  ground,  Sherman  found  he  had  evidently  halted  to  cover 
his  communication  with  the  McDonough  and  Fayetteville 


32O  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

road,  and  presently  rumors  began  to  arrive,  through  prisoners 
captured,  that  Atlanta  had  been  abandoned  during  the  night 
of  September  ist,  that  Hood  had  blown  up  his  ammunition 
trains,  which  accounted  for  the  unexplained  sounds  so  plainly 
heard;  that  Stewart's  Corps  was  then  retreating  toward  Mc- 
Donough,  and  that  the  militia  had  gone  off  toward  Coving- 
ton.  It  was  then  too  late  to  interpose  and  prevent  their 
escape,  and  Sherman  being  satisfied  with  the  substantial  suc- 
cess already  gained,  ordered  the  work  of  destroying  the  rail- 
way to  cease,  and  the  troops  to  be  held  in  hand,  ready  for 
any  movement  that  further  information  from  Atlanta  might 
warrant. 

"On  the  same  night,  a  courier  arrived  from  General  Slocum, 
reporting  the  fact  that  the  enemy  had  evacuated  Atlanta, 
blown  up  seven  trains  of  cars,  and  retreated  on  the  McDon- 
ough  road,  and  that  he  himself  with  the  Twentieth  Corps 
had  entered  and  taken  possession  on  the  morning  of  the  2d 
of  September. 

"Atlanta  being  won,  the  object  of  the  movement  against 
the  railway  being  therefore  already  concluded,  and  any  pursuit 
of  the  enemy  with  a  view  to  his  capture  being  futile  in  such  a 
country,  Sherman  gave  orders,  on  the  4th,  for  the  army  to 
move  back  slowly  to  Atlanta.  On  the  5th  the  army  marched 
to  the  vicinity  of  Jonesboro',  five  miles,  where  it  remained 
a  day.  On  the  7th  it  moved  to  Rough  and  Ready,  seven 
miles,  and  the  next  day  to  the  camps  selected.  The  Army 
of  the  Cumberland  was  then  grouped  round  about  Atlanta, 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  about  East  Point,  and  the  Army 
of  the  Ohio  at  Decatur,  all  in  clean  and  healthy  camps,  at 
last  enabled  to  enjoy  a  brief  period  of  rest,  so  much  needed 
for  reorganization  and  recuperation. 

"To  return  to  the  erratic  movements  of  Wheeler,  whom,  in 
the  presence  of  the  campaigns  of  two  large  armies,  we  have 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  321 

almost  forgotten.  He  succeeded  in  breaking  the  railway 
about  Calhoun,  made  his  appearance  at  Dalton,  where  Colo- 
nel Leibold  held  him  in  check  until  General  Steedman  arrived 
from  Chattanooga  and  drove  him  off,  then  passed  up  into 
East  Tennessee,  and  remained  a  short  while  at  Athens;  but 
on  the  first  show  of  pursuit  he  moved  beyond  the  Little 
Tennessee,  and  crossing  the  Holston,  near  Strawberry  Plains, 
reached  the  Clinch  near  Clinton,  passed  over  toward  Se- 
quatchee  and  McMinnville,  and  thence  to  Murfreesboro',  Leb- 
anon, and  Franklin.  From  Franklin  he  was  pursued  toward 
Florence,  and  out  of  Tennessee,  by  Generals  Rousseau, 
Steedman,  and  Granger.  He  did  great  injury  to  many  citi- 
zens, and  destroyed  the  railway  nearly  as  fast  as  the  con- 
struction parties  were  able  to  repair  it;  but,  except  by  being 
absent  from  Hood's  army  at  the  critical  moment,  had  no 
influence  whatever  upon  the  campaign. 

"Thus  ended,  four  months  after  its  inception,  one  of  the 
greatest  campaigns  of  the  war — a  campaign  which  doubly  se- 
cured the  possession  of  the  mountain  regions  of  the  center, 
and  laid  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  slopes  at  the  mercy  of  the 
Union  commander.  Divided  in  twain  by  the  conquest  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  domain  of  the  Rebellion  was  quartered  by  the 
capture  of  Atlanta.  A  vital  spot  had  been  reached;  the 
granary  of  Georgia  was  lost;  and  there  was  suddenly  pre- 
sented to  the  Confederate  authorities  the  alternative,  to  con- 
centrate their  two  remaining  armies  or  to  perish. 

"Two  dangers  had  menaced  the  success  of  Sherman's  cam- 
paign. The  first  was  the  question  of  supplies.  This  was  in 
great  part  solved  by  the  energetic  and  successful  management 
of  the  superintendent  of  military  railways,  Colonel  W.  W. 
Wright.  'No  matter  when  or  where  a  break  has  been 
made,'  says  Sherman,  'the  repair-train  seemed  on  the  spot, 
and  the  damage  was  generally  repaired  before  I  knew  of  the 

21 


322  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

break.  Bridges  have  been  built  with  surprising  rapidity,  and 
the  locomotive  whistle  was  heard  in  our  advanced  camps 
almost  before  the  echoes  of  the  skirmish  fire  had  ceased. 
Some  of  these  bridges,  those  of  the  Oostanaula,  Etowah, 
and  Chattahoochee,  are  fine,  substantial  structures,  and  were 
built  in  inconceivably  short  time,  almost  out  of  the  materials 
improvised  on  the  spot. '  But  the  solution  was  mainly  due 
to  the  forethought  exercised  by  Sherman  himself  in  success- 
ively establishing  secondary  depots,  strongly  garrisoned,  as 
at  Chattanooga,  Resaca,  Rome,  and  Allatoona,  and  by  great 
exertions  accumulating  at  each,  stores  sufficient  to  render  the 
army  independent  of  the  rear  during  any  temporary  interrup- 
tion of  the  communications.  The  second  danger  ever  pres- 
ent consisted  in  the  rapid  diminution  of  the  army,  not  only 
by  the  heavy  casualties  incidental  to  offensive  warfare,  but 
also  by  the  expiration  of  the  terms  of  service  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  regiments.  This  was  prevented  from  becoming 
fatal  by  the  bravery  of  the  army  in  attacking;  by  the  skill 
of  its  commander,  in  turning  obstacles  too  great  to  be  sur- 
mounted by  direct  approach;  by  the  patriotism  of  the  vet- 
erans, in  re-enlisting;  by  the  noble  exertions  of  the  governors 
of  the  Western  States,  in  encouraging  and  expediting  re- 
enlistments,  and  pushing  the  veterans  to  the  front;  and  by 
the  folly  of  Hood,  in  attacking  the  Union  troops  in  strong 
positions,  protected  by  earthworks,  instead  of  attempting  to 
take  them,  at  a  disadvantage,  as  in  crossing  Peach-tree  Creek. 
On  the  1 2th  of  August,  President  Lincoln  conferred  upon 
General  Sherman  a  commission  as  Major-General  in  the 
regular  army,  as  a  reward  for  his  services  in  this  campaign. 
"Stoneman  marched  from  Decatur  on  the  day  appointed, 
with  the  whole  effective  strength  of  his  division,  numbering 
about  two  thousand  in  all,  organized  in  three  brigades,  com- 
manded by  Colonels  Adams,  Biddle,  and  Capron.  The  first 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN.  323 

brigade  consisted  of  the  First  and  Second  regiments  of  Ken- 
tucky cavalry;  the  Second,  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Indiana; 
the  third  brigade,  of  the  Fourteenth  Illinois,  Eighth  Michi- 
gan, and  a  squadron  of  Ohio  cavalry  under  Captain  Mc- 
Loughlin. 

"Stoneman  moved  out  along  the  line  of  the  Georgia  Cen- 
tral railway  to  Covington,  and  thence  turned  south  and 
pushed  by  way  of  Monticello,  Hillsboro',  and  Clinton,  for 
Macon.  A  battalion  of  the  Fourteenth  Illinois  cavalry  of  Ca- 
pron's  brigade  succeeded  in  entering  Gordon,  destroying 
eleven  locomotives  and  seven  trains  of  cars  laden  with  mu- 
nitions of  war.  The  bridge  over  the  Oconee  was  also  de- 
stroyed by  General  Stoneman's  orders,  by  another  detachment 
from  his  command. 

"On  arriving  within  fifteen  miles  of  Macon  on  the  evening 
of  the  3Oth  of  July,  General  Stoneman  ascertained  from  reli- 
able sources  that,  in  anticipation  of  such  an  attempt,  the 
probability  of  which  had  been  freely  discussed  in  the  North- 
ern newspapers,  the  Confederate  authorities  had  taken  the 
precaution  to  remove  all  the  Union  prisoners  previously 
confined  in  the  military  prisons  at  Macon  and  Millen,  in 
the  direction  of  Florence,  South  Carolina;  and  that  this 
movement  had  only  been  completed  on  the  preceding  day. 
The  prime  object  of  the  expedition  being  thus  unfortunately 
frustrated,  Stoneman  reluctantly  determined  to  return  to  the 
main  body.  But  in  the  meanwhile  the  enemy  had  concen- 
trated in  heavy  force,  and  was  now  mbving  upon  his  line  of 
retreat. 

"On  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  3ist  of  July,  finding  what 
seemed  to  be  a  heavy  force  of  the  enemy  in  his  front,  Stone- 
man deployed  a  strong  line  of  skirmishers,  which  soon  devel- 
oped the  fact  that  taking  advantage  of  the  unfavorable  nature 
of  the  country  for  the  operations  of  cavalry,  Allen's  brigade 


324  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

of  Confederate  infantry  had  passed  around  his  flank  and  taken 
up  a  strong  position  directly  across  the  line  of  his  homeward 
march,  while  Armstrong's  brigade  of  the  enemy's  cavalry, 
in  connection  with  Allen's  infantry,  was  dangerously  mena- 
cing his  left  flank.  With  the  Oconee  in  his  rear  and  a  formi- 
dable enemy  in  his  front  Stoneman  had  evidently  no  resource 
but  to  destroy  that  enemy  or  be  himself  destroyed. 

"Dismounting  the  troopers  of  one  brigade,  he  caused  them 
repeatedly  to  charge  the  enemy  on  foot,  but  they  were  as 
often  repulsed  with  heavy  loss.  Rallying  the  broken  columns 
by  his  personal  exertions  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  gal- 
lant Major  Keogh  and  other  officers  of  his  staff,  Stoneman 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his  men,  and  again  charged,  but 
without  more  favorable  result.  At  the  critical  moment,  Arm- 
strong's brigade  assailed  his  left  flank.  The  Union  cavalry 
gave  way  before  the  combined  opposition,  and  were  with  diffi- 
culty reformed.  By  this  time  the  enemy  had  completely  sur- 
rounded them. 

"Perceiving  this,  and  deeming  all  further  resistance  use- 
less, Stoneman  gave  permission  to  such  of  his  officers  and 
men  as  wished  to  try  the  apparently  desperate  chance  of  cut- 
ting their  way  through  the  opposing  lines,  to  make  the  at- 
tempt, and  then,  causing  hostilities  to  cease  on  his  part,  sent 
in  a  flag  of  truce,  and  unconditionally  surrendered  the  re- 
mainder of  his  force. 

"Among  those  who  cut  their  way  though  the  enemy's  lines, 
and  thus  escaped  and  rejoined  the  main  army,  was  the  bulk 
of  Colonel  Adam's  brigade  and  a  number  of  Colonel  Capron's 
men.  The  entire  number  captured  was  less  than  fifteen 
hundred. 

"The  failure  to  unite  with  McCook,  which  was  the  prime 
cause  of  this  disaster,  undoubtedly  occurred  in  consequence 
of  false,  but  apparently  reliable  information  concerning  the 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  32 § 

roads  and  crossing  of  the  Ocmulgee  River,  whereby  General 
Stoneman  was  led  to  believe  he  could  prolong  his  easterly 
march  to  Covington  without  sacrificing  the  combination. 
Yet  in  all  concerted  operations,  the  co-operative  movements 
are  of  the  first  importance;  all  others,  no  matter  how  great 
their  intrinsic  value,  must  be  deemed  secondary.  Great  suc- 
cess alone  can  excuse,  while  not  even  success  can  justify,  any 
departure  from  the  primary  features  of  the  plan." 

On  the  morning  when  the  movement  commenced,  July  28th, 
I  was  witness  to  a  little  incident  in  which  the  peculiar  char- 
acter of  General  Sherman  when  under  fire  was  displayed  in  a 
strong  light.  We  were  approaching  the  position  held  by  the 
Fifteenth  Corps,  and  General  Sherman  was  riding  along  with 
his  staff  slightly  in  advance  of  the  guards,  when  a  cannon- 
ball  passed  over  his  head  and  fell  not  far  behind  him,  killing 
the  horse  of  an  orderly.  As  the  horse  fell  the  General  could 
not  at  first  determine  whether  or  not  the  soldier  was  injured. 
He  promptly  rode  to  the  spot,  and  as  he  approached,  the 
soldier  had  extricated  himself  and  was  rising.  Seeing  that  no 
harm  had  befallen  the  man,  General  Sherman  turned  and 
quietly  scanned  the  front  with  his  glass,  telling  the  others  to 
stand  by  the  road-side.  The  next  ball  came  directly  in  line 
with  the  other,  and  General  Sherman  ordered  us  to  turn  to 
the  right  and  climb  a  hill,  as  the  Rebels  had  got  the  range  of 
that  road  and  were  enfilading  it.  There  was  not  a  moment 
when  he  appeared  more  concerned  than  he  would  have  been 
seated  at  his  fireside. 

The  closing  days  of  the  struggle  before  Atlanta  are  vividly 
told  by  General  Sherman,  and  included  in  his  correspondence 
with  the  Rebel  General  Hood,  who  assumed  to  criticise  the 
actions  of  our  army  before  Atlanta.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
Federal  General  was  as  ready  with  his  pen  as  with  his  sword: 

"The  month  of  August  opened  hot  and  sultry,  but  our  po- 


326  LIFE    OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

sition  before  Atlanta  was  healthy,  with  ample  supply  of  wood, 
water  and  provisions.  The  troops  had  become  habituated  to 
the  slow  and  steady  progress  of  the  siege;  the  skirmish-lines 
were  held  close  up  to  the  enemy,  were  covered  by  rifle- 
trenches  or  logs,  and  kept  up  a  continuous  clatter  of  musket- 
ry. The  main  lines  were  held  farther  back,  adapted  to  the 
shape  of  the  ground,  with  muskets  loaded  and  stacked  for  in- 
stant use.  The  field-batteries  were  in  select  positions,  covered 
by  handsome  parapets,  and  occasional  shots  from  them  gave 
life  and  animation  to  the  scene.  The  men  loitered  about  the 
trenches  carelessly,  or  busied  themselves  in  constructing  in- 
genious huts  out  of  the  abundant  timber,  and  seemed  as  snug, 
comfortable,  and  happy,  as  though  they  were  at  home.  Gen- 
eral Schofield  was  still  on  the  extreme  left,  Thomas  in  the 
center,  and  Howard  on  the  right.  Two  divisions  of  the  Four- 
teenth Corps  (Baird's  and  Jeff.  C.  Davis')  were  detached  to 
the  right  rear,  and  held  in  reserve. 

"I  thus  awaited  the  effect  of  the  cavalry  movement  against 
the  railroad  about  Jonesboro',  and  had  heard  "from  General 
Garrard  that  Stoneman  had  gone  on  to  Macon;  during  that 
day,  August  ist,  Colonel  Brownlow,  of  a  Tennessee  cavalry 
regiment,  came  into  Marietta  from  General  McCook,  and  re- 
ported that  McCook' s  whole  division  had  been  overwhelmed, 
defeated,  and  captured  at  Newnan.  Of  course,  I  was  dis- 
turbed by  this  wild  report,  though  I  discredited  it,  but  made 
all  possible  preparations  to  strengthen  our  guards  along  the 
railroad  to  the  rear,  on  the  theory  that  the  force  of  cavalry 
which  had  defeated  McCook  would  at  once  be  on  the  railroad 
about  Marietta.  At  the  same  time  Garrard  was  ordered  to 
occupy  the  trenches  on  our  left,  while  Schofield's  whole  army 
moved  to  the  extreme  right,  and  extended  the  line  toward 
East  Point.  Thomas  was  also  ordered  still  further  to  thin 
out  his  lines,  so  as  to  set  free  the  other  division  (Johnson's)  of 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  327 

the  Fourteenth  Corps  (Palmer's)  which  was  moved  to  the  ex- 
treme right  rear,  and  held  in  reserve  ready  to  make  a  bold 
push  from  that  flank  to  secure  a  footing  on  the  Macon  Rail- 
road at  or  below  East  Point. 

"These  changes  were  effected  during  the  2d  and  3d  days  of 
August,  when  General  McCook  came  in  and  reported  the 
actual  results  of  his  cavalry  expedition.  He  had  crossed  the 
Chattahoochee  River  below  Campbellton,  by  his  pontoon- 
bridge;  had  then  marched  rapidly  across  to  the  Macon  Rail- 
road at  Lovejoy's  Station,  where  he  had  reason  to  expect 
General  Stoneman;  but,  not  hearing  of  him,  he  set  to  work, 
tore  up  two  miles  of  track,  burned  two  trains  of  cars,  and  cut 
away  five  miles  of  telegraph  wire.  He  also  found  the  wagon- 
train  belonging  to  the  Rebel  army  in  Atlanta,  burned  five 
hundred  wagons,  killed  eight  hundred  mules,  and  captured 
seventy-two  officers  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Find- 
ing his  progress  eastward,  toward  McDonough,  barred  by  a 
superior  force,  he  turned  back  to  Newnan,  where  he  found 
himself  completely  surrounded  by  infantry  and  cavalry.  He 
had  to  drop  his  prisoners  and  fight  his  way  out,  losing  about 
six  hundred  men  in  killed  and  captured,  and  then  returned 
with  the  remainder  to  his  position  at  Turner's  Ferry.  This 
was  bad  enough,  but  not  so  bad  as  had  been  reported  by 
Colonel  Brownlow.  Meantime,  rumors  came  that  General 
Stoneman  was  down  about  Macon,  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Ocmulgee.  On  the  4th  of  August,  Colonel  Adams  got  to 
Marietta  with  his  small  brigade  of  nine  hundred  men  belong- 
ing to  Stoneman's  cavalry,  reporting,  as  usual,  all  the  rest 
lost,  and  this  was  partially  confirmed  by  a  report  which  came 
to  me  all  the  way  round  by  General  Grant's  headquarters 
before  Richmond.  A  few  days  afterward  Colonel  Capron 
also  got  in,  with  another  small  brigade  perfectly  demoralized, 
and  confirmed  ths  report  that  General  Stoneman  had  covered 


328  LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

the  escape  of  these  two  small  brigades,  himself  standing  with 
a  reserve  of  seven  hundred  men,- with  which  he  surrendered 
to  a  Colonel  Iverson.  Thus  another  of  my  cavalry  divisions 
was  badly  damaged,  and  out  of  the  fragments  we  hastily  re- 
organized three  small  divisions  under  Brigadier-Generals 
Garrard,  McCook,  and  Kilpatrick. 

"Stoneman  had  not  obeyed  his  orders  to  attack  the  railroad 
first  before  going  to  Macon  and  Andersonville,  but  had  crossed 
the  Ocmulgee  River  high  up  near  Covington,  and  had  gone 
down  that  river  on  the  east  bank.  He  reached  Clinton,  and 
sent  out  detachments  which  struck  the  railroad  leading  from 
Macon  to  Savannah  at  Griswold  Station,  where  they  found 
and  destroyed  seventeen  locomotives  and  over  a  hundred  cars; 
then  went  on  and  burned  the  bridge  across  the  Oconee,  and 
reunited  the  division  before  Macon.  Stoneman  shelled  the 
town  across  the  river,  but  could  not  cross  over  by  the  bridge, 
and  returned  to  Clinton,  where  he  found  his  retreat  obstructed, 
as  he  supposed,  by  a  superior  force.  There  he  became  be- 
wildered, and  sacrificed  himself  for  the  safety  of  his  com- 
mand. He  occupied  the  attention  of  his  enemy  by  a  small 
force  of  seven  hundred  men,  giving  Colonels  Adams  and 
Capron  leave,  with  their  brigades,  to  cut  their  way  back  to 
me  at  Atlanta.  The  former  reached  us  entire,  but  the  latter 
was  struck  and  scattered  at  some  place  farther  north,  and 
came  in  by  detachments.  Stoneman  surrendered,  and  re- 
mained a  prisoner  until  he  was  exchanged  some  time  after, 
late  in  September,  at  Rough  and  Ready. 

"I  now  became  satisfied  that  cavalry  could  not,  or  would 
not,  make  a  sufficient  lodgment  on  the  railroad  below  Atlanta, 
and  that  nothing  would  suffice  but  for  us  to  reach  it  with  the 
main  army.  Therefore  the  most  urgent  efforts  to  that  end 
were  made,  and  to  Schofield,  on  the  right,  was  committed  the 
charge  of  this  special  object.  He  had  his  own  Corps — the 


LIFE   OF  GENERAL   SHERMAN.  329 

Twenty-third — composed  of  eleven  thousand  and  seventy-five 
infantry,  and  eight  hundred  and  eighty-five  artillery,  with 
McCook's  broken  division  of  cavalry,  seventeen  hundred  and 
fifty-four  men  and  horses.  For  this  purpose  I  also  placed 
the  Fourteenth  Corps — Palmer's — under  his  orders.  This 
corps  numbered  at  the  time  seventeen  thousand  two  hundred 
and  eighty-eight  infantry  and  eight  hundred  and  twenty-six 
artillery;  but  General  Palmer  claimed  to  rank  General  Scho- 
field  in  the  date  of  his  commission  as  major-general,  and 
denied  the  latter 's  right  to  exercise  command  over  him. 
General  Palmer  was  a  man  of  ability,  but  was  not  enter- 
prising. His  three  divisions  were  compact  and  strong,  well 
commanded,  admirable  on  the  defensive,  but  slow  to  move 
or  to  act  on  the  offensive.  His  Corps — the  Fourteenth — had 
sustained,  up  to  that  time,  fewer  hard  knocks  than  any  other 
Corps  in  the  whole  army,  and  I  was  anxious  to  give  it  a 
chance.  I  always  expected  to  have  a  desperate  fight  to  get 
possession  of  the  Macon  road,  which  was  then  the  vital  ob- 
jective of  the  campaign.  Its  possession  by  us  would,  in  my 
judgment,  result  in  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  and  give  us  the 
fruits  of  victory,  although  the  destruction  of  Hood's  army 
was  the  real  object  to  be  desired.  Yet  Atlanta  was  known 
as  the  'Gate-City  of  the  South,'  was  full  of  foundries,  arse- 
nals, and  machine-shops,  and  I  knew  that  its  capture  would 
be  the  death-knell  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

"On  the  4th  of  August,  I  ordered  General  Schofield  to 
make  a  bold  attack  on  the  railroad,  anywhere  about  East 
Point,  and  ordered  General  Palmer  to  report  to  him  for  duty. 
He  at  once  denied  General  Schofield's  right  to  command  him; 
but,  after  examining  the  dates  of  their  respective  commis- 
sions, and  hearing  their  arguments,  I  wrote  to  General  Pal- 
mer. 


33O  LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 


'"August  ^th  —  10.45  p-  M- 

"'From  the  statements  made  by  yourself  and  General  Scho- 
field  to-day,  my  decision  is,  that  he  ranks  you  as  a  Major- 
General,  being  of  the  same  date  of  present  commission,  by 
reason  of  his  previous  superior  rank  as  Brigadier  General. 
The  movements  of  to-morrow  are  so  important  that  the 
orders  of  the  superior  on  that  flank  must  be  regarded  as  mili- 
tary orders,  and  not  in  the  nature  of  co-operation.  I  did 
hope  that  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  making  this  decis- 
ion; but  it  is  better  for  all  parties  interested  that  no  question 
of  rank  should  occur  in  actual  battle.  The  Sandtown  road, 
and  the  railroad,  if  possible,  must  be  gained  to-morrow,  if  it 
costs  half  your  command.  I  regard  the  loss  of  time  this  after- 
noon as  equal  to  the  loss  of  two  thousand  men.  ' 

"I  also  communicated  the  substance  of  this  to  General 
Thomas,  to  whose  army  Palmer's  Corps  belonged,  who  re- 
plied on  the  5th: 

"'I  regret  to  hear  that  Palmer  has  taken  the  course  he  has, 
and  I  know  that  he  intends  to  offer  his  resignation  as  soon  as 
he  can  properly  do  so.  I  recommend  that  his  application  be 
granted.  ' 

"And  on  the  5th  I  again  wrote  to  General  Palmer,  arguing 
the  point  with  him,  advising  him,  as  a  friend,  not  to  resign 
at  that  crisis  lest  his  motives  might  be  misconstrued,  and 
because  it  might  damage  his  future  career  in  civil  life;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  say  to  him  that  the 
operations  on  that  flank,  during  the  4th  and  5th,  had  not 
been  satisfactory  —  not  imputing  to  him,  however,  any  want 
of  energy  or  skill,  but  insisting  that  'the  events  did  not  keep 
pace  with  my  desires.  '  General  Schofield  had  reported  to 
me  that  night: 

'"I  am  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  I  have  totally  failed 
to  make  any  aggressive  movement  with  the  Fourteenth  Corps. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  331 

I  have  ordered  General  Johnson's  division  to  replace  Gen- 
eral Hascall's  this  evening,  and  I  propose  to-morrow  to  take 
my  own  troops  (Twenty-third  Corps)  to  the  right,  and  try 
to  recover  what  has  been  lost  by  two  days'  delay.  The 
force  may  likely  be  too  small. ' 

"I  sanctioned  the  movement,  and  ordered  two  of  Palmer's 
divisions — Davis'  and  Baird's — to  follow  en  echelon  in  sup- 
port of  Schofield,  and  summoned  General  Palmer  to  meet 
me  in  person.  He  came  on  the  6th  to  my  headquarters,  and 
insisted  on  his  resignation  being  accepted,  for  which  formal 
act  I  referred  him  to  General  Thomas.  He  then  rode  to 
General  Thomas'  camp,  where  he  made  a  written  resignation 
of  his  office  as  commander  of  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  and 
was  granted  the  usual  leave  of  absence  to  go  to  his  home  in 
Illinois,  there  to  await  further  orders.  General  Thomas 
recommended  that  the  resignation  be  accepted;  that  Johnson, 
the  senior  division  commander  of  the  Corps,  should  be  ordered 
back  to  Nashville  as  chief  of  cavalry,  and  that  Brigadier- 
General  Jefferson  C.  Davis,  the  next  in  order,  should  be  pro- 
moted Major-General,  and  assigned  to  command  the  Corps. 
These  changes  had  to  be  referred  to  the  President,  in  Wash- 
ington, and  were,  in  due  time,  approved  and  executed;  and 
thenceforward  I  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  slowness 
or  inactivity  of  that  splendid  Corps.  It  had  been  originally 
formed  by  General  George  H.  Thomas,  had  been  com- 
manded by  him  in  person,  and  had  imbibed  somewhat  his 
personal  character,  viz. ,  steadiness,  good  order,  and  delibera- 
tion— nothing  hasty  or  rash,  but  always  safe,  'slow,  and 
sure. ' 

"On  August  /th  I  telegraphed  to  General  Halleck: 
"'Have  received  to-day  the  dispatches  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  and  of  General  Grant,  which  are  very  satisfactory.    We 
keep  hammering  away  all   the    time,  and  there  is  no  peace, 


332  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

inside  or  outside  of  Atlanta.  To-day  General  Schofield  got 
round  the  line  which  was  assaulted  yesterday  by  General 
Reilley's  brigade,  turned  it  and  gained  the  ground  where  the 
assault  had  been  made,  and  got  possession  of  all  our  dead  and 
wounded.  He  continued  to  press  on  that  flank,  and  brought 
on  a  noisy  but  not  a  bloody  battle.  He  drove  the  enemy 
behind  his  main  breastworks,  which  cover  the  railroad  from 
Atlanta  to  East  Point,  and  captured  a  good  many  of  the 
skirmishers,  who  are  of  his  best  troops — for  the  militia  hug 
the  breastworks  close.  I  do  not  deem  it  prudent  to  extend 
any  more  to  the  right,  but  will  push  forward  daily  by  paral- 
lels, and  make  the  inside  of  Atlanta  too  hot  to  be  endured. 
I  have  sent  back  to  Chattanooga  for  two  thirty-pound  Par- 
rotts,  with  which  we  can  pick  out  almost  any  house  in  town. 
I  am  too  impatient  for  a  siege,  and  don't  know  but  this  is  as 
good  a  place  to  fight  it  out  on,  as  farther  inland.  One  thing 
is  certain,  whether  we  get  inside  of  Atlanta  or  not,  it  will  be 
a  used-up  community  when  we  are  done  with  it. ' 

"In  Schofield's  extension  on  the  5th,  General  Reilley's 
brigade  had  struck  an  outwork,  which  he  promptly  attacked, 
but,  as  usual,  got  entangled  in  the  trees  and  bushes  which 
had  been  felled,  and  lost  about  five  hundred  men,  in  killed 
and  wounded;  but,  as  above  reported,  this  outwork  was 
found  abandoned  the  next  day,  and  we  could  see  from  it 
that  the  Rebels  were  extending  their  lines,  parallel  with  the 
railroad,  about  as  fast  as  we  could  add  to  our  line  of  invest- 
ment. On  the  loth  of  August  the  Parrott  thirty-pounders 
were  received  and  placed  in  position;  for  a  couple  of  days 
we  kept  up  a  sharp  fire  from  all  our  batteries  converging  on 
Atlanta,  and  at  every  available  point  we  advanced  our  in- 
fantry lines,  thereby  shortening  and  strengthening  the  invest- 
ment; but  I  was  not  willing  to  order  a  direct  assault,  unless 
some  accident  or  positive  neglect  on  the  part  of  our  antago- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  333 

nist  should  reveal  an  opening.  However,  it  was  manifest 
that  no  such  opening  was  intended  by  Hood,  who  felt  secure 
behind  his  strong  defenses.  He  had  repelled  our  cavalry 
attacks  on  his  railroad,  and  had  damaged  us  seriously  thereby, 
so  I  expected  that  he  would  attempt  the  same  game  against 
our  rear.  Therefore  I  made  extraordinary  exertions  to  recom- 
pose  our  cavalry  divisions,  which  were  so  essential,  both  for 
defense  and  offense.  Kilpatrick  was  given  that  on  our  right 
rear,  in  support  of  Schofield's  exposed  flank;  Garrard  retained 
that  on  our  general  left;  and  McCook's  division  was  held 
somewhat  in  reserve,  about  Marietta  and  the  railroad.  On 
the  zoth,  having  occasion  to  telegraph  to  General  Grant,  then 
in  Washington,  I  used  this  language: 

"'Since  July  28th  Hood  has  not  attempted  to  meet  us  out- 
side his  parapets.  In  order  to  possess  and  destroy  effectually 
his  communications,  I  may  have  to  leave  a  Corps  at  the  rail- 
road-bridge, well  intrenched,  and  cut  loose  with  the  balance 
to  make  a  circle  of  desolation  around  Atlanta.  I  do  not 
propose  to  assault  the  works,  which  are  too  strong,  nor  to 
proceed  by  regular  approaches.  I  have  lost  a  good  many 
regiments,  and  will  lose  more,  by  the  expiration  of  service; 
and  this  is  the  only  reason  why  I  want  reinforcements. 
We  have  killed,  crippled,  and  captured  more  of  the  enemy 
than  we  have  lost  by  his  acts. ' 

"On  the  1 2th  of  August  I  heard  of  the  success  of  Admiral 
Farragut  in  entering  Mobile  Bay,  which  was  regarded  as  a 
most  valuable  auxiliary  to  our  operations  at  Atlanta;  and 
learned  that  I  had  been  commissioned  a  Major-General  in  the 
regular  army,  which  was  unexpected,  and  not  desired  until 
successful  in  the  capture  of  Atlanta.  These  did  not  change 
the  fact  that  we  we're  held  in  check  by  the  stubborn  defense 
of  the  place,  and  a  conviction  was  forced  on  my  mind  that 
our  enemy  would  hold  fast,  even  though  every  house  in  the 


334  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

town  should  be  battered  down  by  our  artillery.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  we  must  decoy  him  out  to  fight  us  on  something 
like  equal  terms,  or  else,  with  the  whole  army,  raise  the  siege 
and  attack  his  communications.  Accordingly,  on  the  I3th 
of  August,  I  gave  general  orders  for  the  Twentieth  Corps  to 
draw  back  to  the  railroad  bridge  at  the  Chattahoochee,  to 
protect  our  trains,  hospitals,  spare  artillery,  and  the  railroad 
depot,  while  the  rest  of  the  army  should  move  bodily  to  some 
point  on  the  Macon  Railroad  below  East  Point. 

"Luckily,  I  learned  just  then  that  the  enemy's  cavalry, 
under  General  Wheeler,  had  made  a  wide  circuit  around 
our  left  flank,  and  had  actually  reached  our  railroad  at  Til- 
ton  Station,  above  Resaca,  captured  a  drove  of  one  thousand 
of  our  beef-cattle,  and  was  strong  enough  to  appear  before 
Dalton,  and  demand  of  its  commander,  Colonel  Raum,  the 
surrender  of  the  place.  General  John  E.  Smith,  who  was 
at  Kingston,  collected  together  a  couple  of  thousand  men,  and 
proceeded  in  cars  to  the  relief  of  Dalton,  when  Wheeler  re- 
treated northward  toward  Cleveland.  On  the  i6th  another 
detachment  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  appeared  in  force  about 
Allatoona  and  the  Etowah  bridge,  when  I  became  fully  con- 
vinced that  Hood  had  sent  all  of  his  cavalry  to  raid  upon  our 
railroads.  For  some  days  our  communication  with  Nashville 
was  interrupted  by  the  destruction  of  the  telegraph  lines,  as 
well  as  railroad.  I  at  once  ordered  strong  reconnoissances 
forward  from  our  flanks  on  the  left  by  Garrard,  and  on  the 
right  by  Kilpatrick.  The  former  moved  with  so  much  cau- 
tion that  I  was  displeased;  but  Kilpatrick,  on  the  contrary, 
displayed  so  much  zeal  and  activity  that  I  was  attracted  to 
him  at  once.  He  reached  Fairburn  Station,  on  the  West 
Point  road,  and  tore  it  up,  returning  safely  to  his  position 
on  our  right  flank.  I  summoned  him  to  me,  and  was  so 
pleased  with  his  spirit  and  confidence,  that  I  concluded  to 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  335 

suspend  the  general  movement  of  the  main  army,  and  to 
send  him  with  his  small  division  of  cavalry  to  break  up  the 
Macon  road  about  Jonesboro',  in  the  hopes  that  it  would 
force  Hood  to  evacuate  Atlanta,  and  that  I  should  thereby 
not  only  secure  possession  of  the  city  itself,  but  probably 
could  catch  Hood  in  the  confusion  of  retreat;  and,  further 
to  increase  the  chances  of  success,  I  ordered  General  Thomas 
to  detach  two  brigades  of  Garrard's  division  of  cavalry  from 
the  left  to  the  right  rear,  to  act  as  a  reserve  in  support  of 
General  Kilpatrick.  Meantime,  also,  the  utmost  activity  was 
ordered  along  our  whole  front  by  the  infantry  and  artillery. 
Kilpatrick  got  off  during  the  night  of  the  1 8th,  and  returned 
to  us  on  the  22d,  having  made  the  complete  circuit  of  At- 
lanta. He  reported  that  he  had  destroyed  three  miles  of  the 
railroad  about  Jonesboro',  which  he  reckoned  would  take  ten 
days  to  repair;  that  he  had  encountered  a  division  of  infantry 
and  a  brigade  of  cavalry  (Ross');  that  he  had  captured  a  bat- 
tery and  destroyed  three  of  its  guns,  bringing  one  in  as  a 
trophy,  and  he  also  brought  in  three  battle-flags  and  seventy 
prisoners.  On  the  23d,  however,  we  saw  trains  coming 
into  Atlanta  from  the  south,  when  I  became  more  than  ever 
convinced  that  cavalry  could  not  or  would  not  work  hard 
enough  to  disable  a  railroad  properly,  and  therefore  resolved 
at  once  to  proceed  to  the  execution  of  my  original  plan. 
Meantime,  the  damage  done  to  our  own  railroad  and  tele- 
graph by  Wheeler,  about  Resaca  and  Dalton,  had  been  re- 
paired, and  Wheeler  himself  was  too  far  away  to  be  of  any 
service  to  his  own  army,  and  where  he  could  not  do  us  much 
harm,  viz.,  up  about  the  Hiawassee.  On  the  24th  I  rode 
down  to  the  Chattahoochee  bridge,  to  see  in  person  that  it 
could  be  properly  defended  by  the  single  Corps  proposed  to 
be  left  there  for  that  purpose,  and  found  that  the  Rebel  works, 
which  had  been  built  by  Johnston  to  resist  us,  could  be  easily 


336  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

utilized  against  themselves;  and  on  returning  to  my  camp, 
at  7. 1 5  P.  M.  that  same  evening  I  telegraphed  to  General  Hal- 
leek  as  follows: 

"'Heavy  fires  in  Atlanta  all  day,  caused  by  our  artillery. 
I  will  be  all  ready,  and  will  commence  the  movement  around 
Atlanta  by  the  south,  to-morrow  night,  and  for  some  time 
you  will  hear  little  of  us.  I  will  keep  open  a  courier  line 
back  to  the  Chattahoochee  bridge,  by  way  of  Sandtown. 
The  Twentieth  Corps  will  hold  the  railroad-bridge,  and  I  will 
move  with  the  balance  of  the  army,  provisioned  for  twenty 
days. ' 

"Meantime  General  Dodge,  commanding  the  Sixteenth 
Corps,  had  been  wounded  in  the  forehead,  had  gone  to  the 
rear,  and  his  two  divisions  were  distributed  to  the  Fifteenth 
and  Seventeenth  Corps.  The  real  movement  commenced  on 
the  25th,  at  night.  The  Twentieth  Corps  drew  back  and 
took  post  at  the  railroad-bridge,  and  the  Fourth  Corps(Stan- 
ley)  moved  to  his  right  rear,  closing  up  with  the  Fourteenth 
Corps  (Jeff.  C.  Davis)  near  Utoy  Creek;  at  the  same  time 
Garrard's  cavalry,  leaving  their  horses  out  of  sight,  occupied 
the  vacant  trenches,  so  that  the  enemy  did  not  detect  the 
change  at  all.  The  next  night  (26th)  the  Fifteenth  and 
Seventeenth  Corps,  composing  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
(Howard)  drew  out  of  their  trenches,  made  a  wide  circuit, 
and  came  up  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  Fourth  and  Four- 
teenth Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  (Thomas)  along 
Utoy  Creek,  facing  south.  The  enemy  seemed  to  suspect 
something  that  night,  using  his  artillery  pretty  freely;  but  I 
think  he  supposed  we  were  going  to  retreat  altogether.  An 
artillery-shot,  fired  at  random,  killed  one  man  and  wounded 
another,  and  the  next  morning  some  of  his  infantry  came  out 
of  Atlanta  and  found  our  camps  abandoned.  It  was  after- 
ward related  that  there  was  great  rejoicing  in  Atlanta  'that 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  337 

the  Yankees  were  gone;'  the  fact  was  telegraphed  all  over  the 
South,  and  several  trains  of  cars  (with  ladies)  came  up  from 
Macon  to  assist  in  the  celebration  of  their  grand  victory. 

"On  the  28th  (making  a  general  left-wheel,  pivoting  on 
Schofield)  both  Thomas  and  Howard  reached  the  West  Point 
Railroad,  extending  from  East  Point  to  Red-Oak  Station, 
and  Fairburn,  where  we  spent  the  next  day  (29th)  in  break- 
ing it  up  thoroughly.  The  track  was  heaved  up  in  sections  the 
length  of  a  regiment,  then  separated  rail  by  rail;  bonfires 
were  made  of  the  ties  and  of  fence-rails  on  which  the  rails 
were  heated,  carried  to  trees  or  telegraph  poles,  wrapped 
around  and  left  to  cool.  Such  rails  could  not  be  used  again; 
and,  to  be  still  more  certain,  we  filled  up  many  deep  cuts 
with  trees,  brush,  and  earth,  and  commingled  with  them 
loaded  shells,  so  arranged  that  they  would  explode  on  an 
attempt  to  haul  out  the  bushes.  The  explosion  of  one  such 
shell  would  have  demoralized  a  gang  of  negroes,  and  thus 
would  have  prevented  even  the  attempt  tq  clear  the  road. 

"Meantime  Schofield,  with  the  Twenty-third  Corps,  pre- 
sented a  bold  front  toward  East  Point,  daring  and  inviting 
the  enemy  to  sally  out  to  attack  him  in  position.  His  first 
movement  was  on  the  3Oth,  to  Mount  Gilead  Church,  then 
to  Morrow's  Mills,  facing  Rough  and  Ready.  Thomas  was 
on  his  right,  within  easy  support,  moving  by  cross-roads  from 
Red  Oak  to  the  Fayetteville  road,  extending  from  Couch's  to 
Renfrew's;  and  Howard  was  aiming  for  Jonesboro'. 

"I  was  with  General  Thomas  that  day,  which  was  hot  but 
otherwise  very  pleasant.  We  stopped  for  a  short  noon-rest 
near  a  little  church  (marked  on  our  maps  as  Shoal-Creek 
Church),  which  stood  back  about  a  hundred  yards  from  the 
road,  in  a  grove  of  native  oaks.  The  infantry  column  had 
halted  in  the  road,  stacked  their  arms,  and  the  men  were 
scattered  about — some  lying  in  the  shade  of  the  trees,  and 


338  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

others  were  bringing  corn-stalks  from  a  large  corn-field  across 
the  road  to  feed  our  horses,  while  still  others  had  arms  full 
of  the  roasting-ears,  then  in  their  prime.  Hundreds  of  fires 
were  soon  started  with  the  fence-rails,  and  the  men  were  busy 
roasting  the  ears.  Thomas  and  I  were  walking  up  and  down 
the  road  which  led  to  the  church,  discussing  the  chances  of 
the  movement,  which  he  thought  were  extra-hazardous,  and 
our  path  carried  us  by  a  fire  at  which  a  soldier  was  roasting 
his  corn.  The  fire  was  built  artistically;  the  man  was  strip- 
ping the  ears  of  their  husks,  standing  them  in  front  of  his  fire, 
watching  them  carefully,  and  turning  each  ear  little  by  little, 
so  as  to  roast  it  nicely.  He  was  down  on  his  knees,  intent 
on  his  business,  paying  little  heed  to  the  stately  and  serious 
deliberations  of  his  leaders.  Thomas'  mind  was  running  on 
the  fact  that  we  had  cut  loose  from  our  base  of  supplies,  and 
that  seventy  thousand  men  were  then  dependent  for  their 
food  on  the  chance  supplies  of  the  country  (already  impover- 
ished by  the  requisitions  of  the  enemy,)  and  on  the  contents 
of  our  wagons.  Between  Thomas  and  his  men  there  existed 
a  most  kindly  relation,  and  he  frequently  talked  with  them  in 
the  most  familiar  way.  Pausing  awhile,  and  watching  the 
operations  of  this  man  roasting  his  corn,  he  said,  'What  are 
you  doing?'  The  man  looked  up  smilingly:  'Why,  general, 
I  am  laying  in  a  supply  of  provisions.'  'That  is  right,  my 
man,  but  don't  waste  your  provisions.'  As  we  resumed  our 
walk,  the  man  remarked,  in  a  sort  of  musing  way,  but  loud 
enough  for  me  to  hear:  'There  he  goes,  there  goes  the  old 
man,  economizing  as  usual.'  'Economizing'  with  corn, 
which  cost  only  the  labor  of  gathering  and  roasting! 

"As  we  walked,  we  could  hear  General  Howard's  guns  at 
intervals,  away  off  to  our  right  front,  but  an  ominous  silence 
continued  toward  our  left,  where  I  was  expecting  at  each 
moment  to  hear  the  sound  of  battle.  That  night  we  reached 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  339 

Renfrew's,  and  had  reports  from  left  to  right  (from  General 
Schofield,  about  Morrow's  Mills,  tq  General  Howard,  within 
a  couple  of  miles  of  Jonesboro').  The  next  morning  (August 
3 1  st)  all  moved  straight  for  the  railroad.  Schofield  reached 
it  near  Rough  and  Ready,  and  Thomas  at  two  points  between 
there  and  Jonesboro'.  Howard  found  an  intrenched  foe 
(Hardee's  corps)  covering  Jonesboro,'  and  his  men  began  at 
once  to  dig  their  accustomed  rifle-pits.  Orders  were  sent  to 
Generals  Thomas  and  Schofield  to  turn  straight  for  Jones- 
boro', tearing  up  the  railroad-track  as  they  advanced.  About 
3  P.  M.  the  enemy  sallied  from  Jonesboro'  against  the  Fif- 
teenth Corps,  but  was  easily  repulsed,  and  driven  back  within 
his  lines.  All  hands  were  kept  busy  tearing  up  the  railroad, 
and  it  was  not  until  toward  evening  of  the  ist  day  of  Septem- 
ber that  the  Fourteenth  Corps  (Davis)  closed  down  on  the 
north  front  of  Jonesboro',  connecting  on  his  right  with  Howard 
and  his  left  reaching  the  railroad,  along  which  General  Stan- 
ley was  moving,  followed  by  Schofield.  General  Davis 
formed  his  divisions  in  line  about  4  p.  M.  ,  swept  forward 
over  some  old  cotton-fields  in  full  view,  and  went  over  the 
Rebel  parapet  handsomely,  capturing  the  whole  of  Govan's 
brigade,  with  two  field-batteries  of  ten  guns.  Being  on  the 
spot,  I  checked  Davis'  movement,  and  ordered  General 
Howard  to  send  the  two  divisions  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps 
(Blair)  round  by  his  right  rear,  to  get  below  Jonesboro',  and 
to  reach  the  railroad,  so  as  to  cut  off  retreat  in  that  direction. 
I  also  dispatched  orders  after  orders  to  hurry  forward  Stanley, 
so  as  to  lap  around  Jonesboro'  on  the  east,  hoping  thus  to 
capture  the  whole  oi  Hardee's  corps.  I  sent  first  Captain 
Audenried  (aid-de-camp),  then  Colonel  Poe,  of  the  Engi- 
neers, and  lastly  General  Thomas  himself,  and  that  is  the  only 
time  during  the  campaign  I  can  recall  seeing  General  Thomas 
urge  his  horse  into  a  gallop.  Night  was  approaching,  and 


34O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

the  country  on  the  farther  side  of  the  railroad  was  densely 
wooded.  General  Stanley  had  come  up  on  the  left  of  Davis, 
and  was  deploying,  though  there  could  not  have  been  on  his 
front  more  than  a  skirmish-line.  Had  he  moved  straight  on 
the  flank,  or  by  a  slight  circuit  to  his  left,  he  would  have  in- 
closed the  whole  ground  occupied  by  Hardee's  Corps,  and  that 
Corps  could  not  have  escaped  us;  but  night  came  on,  and 
Hardee  did  escape. 

"Meantime  General  Slocum  had  reached  his  Corps — the 
Twentieth — stationed  at  the  Chattahoochee  bridge,  had  re- 
lieved General  A.  S.  Williams  in  command,  and  orders  had 
been  sent  back  to  him  to  feel  forward  occasionally  toward 
Atlanta,  to  observe  the  effect  when  we  had  reached  the  rail- 
road. That  night  I  was  so  restless  and  impatient  that  I 
could  not  sleep,  and  about  midnight  there  arose  toward  At- 
lanta sounds  of  shells  exploding,  and  other  sound  like  that  of 
musketry.  I  walked  to  the  house  of  a  farmer  close  by  my 
bivouac,  called  him  out  to  listen  to  the  reverberations  which 
came  from  the  direction  of  Atlanta — twenty  miles  to  the 
north  of  us — and  inquired  of  him  if  he  had  resided  there  long. 
He  said  he  had,  and  that  these  sounds  were  just  like  those  of 
a  battle.  An  interval  of  quiet  then  ensued,  when  again, 
about  4  A.  M.,  arose  other  similar  explosions,  but  I  still 
remained  in  doubt  whether  the  enemy  was  engaged  in  blowing 
up  his  own  magazines,  or  whether  General  Slocum  had  not 
felt  forward,  and  become  engaged  in  a  real  battle. 

"The  next  morning  General  Hardee  was  gone,  and  we  all 
pushed  forward  along  the  railroad  south,  in  close  pursuit,  till 
we  ran  up  against  his  lines  at  a  point  just  above  Lovejoy's 
Station.  While  bringing  forward  troops  and  feeling  the  new 
position  of  our  adversary,  rumors  came  from  the  rear  that 
the  enemy  had  evacuated  Atlanta,  and  that  General  Slocum 
was  in  the  city.  Later  in  the  day  I  received  a  note  in  Slo- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  341 

cum's  own  handwriting,  stating  that  he  had  heard  during  the 
night  the  very  sounds  that  I  have  referred  to;  that  he  had 
moved  rapidly  up  from  the  bridge  about  daylight,  and  had 
entered  Atlanta  unopposed.  His  letter  was  dated  inside  the 
city,  so  there  was  no  doubt  of  the  fact.  General  Thomas' 
bivouac  was  but  a  short  distance  from  mine,  and,  before 
giving  notice  to  the  army  in  general  orders,  I  sent  one  of  my 
staff-officers  to  show  him  the  note.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
officer  returned,  soon  followed  by  Thomas  himself,  who  again 
examined  the  note,  so  as  to  be  perfectly  certain  that  it 
was  genuine.  The  news  seemed  to  him  too  good  to  be 
true.  He  snapped  his  fingers,  whistled,  and  almost  danced, 
and,  as  the  news  spread  to  the  army,  the  shouts  that  arose 
from  our  men,  the  wild  hallooing  and  glorious  laughter,  were 
to  us  a  full  recompense  for  the  labor  and  toils  and  hardships 
through  which  we  had  passed  in  the  previous  three  months. 
"A  courier-line  was  at  once  organized,  messages  were  sent 
back  and  forth  from  our  camp  at  Lovejoy's  to  Atlanta,  and 
to  our  telegraph-station  at  the  Chattahoochee  bridge.  Of 
course,  the  glad  tidings  flew  on  the  wings  of  electricity  to  all 
parts  of  the  North,  where  the  people  had  patiently  awaited 
news  of  their  husbands,  sons,  and  brothers,  away  down  in 
*  Dixie  Land;'  and  congratulations  came  pouring  back  full  of 
good- will  and  patriotism.  The  victory  was  most  opportune; 
Mr.  Lincoln  himself  told  me  afterward  that  even  he  had 
previously  felt  in  doubt,  for  the  summer  was  fast  passing 
away;  that  General  Grant  seemed  to  be  checkmated  about 
Richmond  and  Petersburg,  and  my  army  seemed  to  have  run 
up  against  an  impassable  barrier,  when,  suddenly  and  unex- 
pectedly, came  the  news  that  'Atlanta  was  ours,  and  fairly 
won. '  On  this  text  many  a  fine  speech  was  made,  but  none 
more  eloquent  than  that  by  Edward  Everett,  in  Boston.  A 
Presidential  election  then  agitated  the  North.  Mr.  Lincoln 


342  LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

represented  the  national  cause,  and  General  McClellan  had 
accepted  the  nomination  of  the  Democratic  party,  whose  plat- 
form was  that  the  war  was  a  failure,  and  that  it  was  better  to 
allow  the  South  to  go  free  to  establish  a  separate  government, 
whose  corner-stone  should  be  slavery.  Success  to  our  arms 
at  that  instant  was  therefore  a  political  necessity;  and  it  was 
all-important  that  something  startling  in  our  interest  should 
occur  before  the  election  in  November.  The  brilliant  success 
at  Atlanta  rilled  that  requirement,  and  made  the  election  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  certain.  Among  the  many  letters  of  congratu- 
lation received,  those  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  General  Grant  seem 
most  important: 

"'  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  ) 
WASHINGTON,   D.  C.,  September  3,  1864.  ) 

"'The  national  thanks  are  rendered  by  the  President  to 
Major-General  W.  T.  Sherman  and  the  gallant  officers  and 
soldiers  of  his  command  before  Atlanta,  for  the  distinguished 
ability  and  perseverance  displayed  in  the  campaign  in  Geor- 
gia, which,  under  Divine  favor,  has  resulted  in  the  capture  of 
Atlanta.  The  marches,  battles,  sieges,  and  other  military 
operations,  that  have  signalized  the  campaign,  must  render  it 
famous  in  the  annals  of  war,  and  have  entitled  those  who 
have  participated  therein  to  the  applause  and  thanks  of  the 
nation.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 

"'President  of  the  United  States.'" 

"'CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  September  4,  1864 — 9  P.  M. 
"'Major-General  SHERMAN: 

"'I  have  just  received  your  dispatch  announcing  the  capture 
of  Atlanta.  In  honor  of  your  great  victory,  I  have  ordered 
a  salute  to  be  fired  with  shotted  guns  from  every  battery 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  343 

bearing  upon  the  enemy.     The  salute  will  be  fired  within   an 
hour,  amid  great  rejoicing.  U.   S.   GRANT, 

"'Lieutenant-General.'" 

"These  dispatches  were  communicated  to  the  army  in  gener- 
al orders,  and  we  all  felt  duly  encouraged  and  elated  by  the 
praise  of  those  competent  to  bestow  it. 

"The  army  still  remained  where  the  news  of  success  had 
first  found  us,  viz.,  Lovejoy's;  but,  after  due' reflection,  I  re- 
solved not  to  attempt  at  that  time  a  further  pursuit  of  Hood's 
army,  but  slowly  and  deliberately  to  move  back,  occupy  At- 
lanta, enjoy  a  short  period  of  rest,  and  to  think  well  over  the 
next  step  required  in  the  progress  of  events.  Orders  for  this 
movement  were  made  on  the  5th  September,  and  three  days 
were  given  for  each  army  to  reach  the  place  assigned  it,  viz. : 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  in  and  about  Atlanta;  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee  at  East  Point;  and  the  Army  of  the  Ohio 
at  Decatur. 

"Personally  I  rode  back  to  Jonesboro'  on  the  6th,  and  there 
inspected  the  Rebel  hospital,  full  of  wounded  officers  and  men 
left  by  Hardee  in  his  retreat.  The  next  night  we  stopped  at 
Rough  and  Ready,  and  on  the  8th  of  September  we  rode 
into  Atlanta,  then  occupied  by  the  Twentieth  Corps — Gen- 
eral Slocum.  In  the  Court-House  Square  was  encamped  a 
brigade,  embracing  the  Massachusetts  Second  and  Thirty- 
third  Regiments,  which  had  two  of  the  finest  bands  of  the 
army,  and  their  music  was  to  us  all  a  source  of  infinite  pleas- 
ure during  our  sojourn  in  that  city.  I  took  up  my  headquar- 
ters in  the  house  of  Judge  Lyons,  which  stood  opposite  one 
corner  of  the  Court-House  Square,  and  at  once  set  about  a 
measure  already  ordered,  of  which  I  had  thought  much  and 
long,  viz. ,  to  remove  the  entire  civil  population,  and  to  deny 
to  all  civilians  from  the  rear  the  expected  profits  of  civil 


344  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHCRMAN. 

trade.  Hundreds  of  sutlers  and  traders  were  waiting  at 
Nashville  and  Chattanooga,  greedy  to  reach  Atlanta  with 
their  wares  and  goods,  with  which  to  drive  a  profitable  trade 
with  the  inhabitants.  I  gave  positive  orders  that  none  of 
these  traders,  except  three — one  for  each  separate  army — 
should  be  permitted  to  come  nearer  than  Chattanooga;  and, 
moreover,  I  peremptorily  required  that  all  the  citizens  and 
families  resident  in  Atlanta  should  go  away,  giving  to  each  the 
option  to  go  south  or  north,  as  their  interests  or  feelings  dic- 
tated. I  was  resolved  to  make  Atlanta  a  pure  military  garri- 
son or  depot,  with  no  civil  population  to  influence  military 
measures.  I  had  seen  Memphis,  Vicksburg,  Natchez,  and 
New  Orleans,  all  captured  from  the  enemy,  and  each  at  once 
was  garrisoned  by  a  full  division  of  troops,  if  not  more;  so 
that  success  was  actually  crippling  our  armies  in  the  field  by 
detachments  to  guard  and  protect  the  interests  of  a  hostile 
population. 

"I  gave  notice  of  this  purpose,  as  early  as  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember, to  General  Halleck,  in  a  letter  concluding  with  these 
words: 

"'If  the  people  raise  a  howl  against  my  barbarity  and 
cruelty,  I  will  answer  that  war  is  war,  and  not  popularity- 
seeking.  If  they  want  peace,  they  and  their  relatives  must 
stop  the  war. ' 

"I  knew,  of  course,  that  such  a  measure  would  be  strongly 
criticised,  but  made  up  my  mind  to  do  it  with  the  absolute 
certainty  of  its  justness,  and  that  time  would  sanction  its  wis- 
dom. I  knew  that  the  people  of  the  South  would  read  in  this 
measure  two  important  conclusions:  one,  that  we  were  in 
earnest;  and  the  other,  if  they  were  sincere  in  their  common 
and  popular  clamor  'to  die  in  the  last  ditch,'  that  the  oppor- 
tunity would  soon  come. 

"Soon  after  our  reaching  Atlanta,  General  Hood  had  sent  in 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  345 

by  a  flag  of  truce  a  proposition,  offering  a  general  exchange 
of  prisoners,  saying  that  he  was  authorized  to  make  such  an 
exchange  by  the  Richmond  authorities,  out  of  the  vast  num- 
ber of  our  men  then  held  captive  at  Andersonville,  the  same 
whom  General  Stoneman  had  hoped  to  rescue  at  the  time  of 
his  raid.  Some  of  these  prisoners  had  already  escaped  and 
got  in,  had  described  the  pitiable  condition  of  the  remainder, 
and,  although  I  felt  a  sympathy  for  their  hardships  and  suf- 
ferings as  deeply  as  any  man  could,  yet  as  nearly  all  the  pris- 
oners who  had  been  captured  by  us  during  the  campaign  had 
been  sent,  as  fast  as  taken,  to  the  usual  depots  North,  they 
were  then  beyond  my  control.  There  were  still  about  two 
thousand,  mostly  captured  at  Jonesboro',  who  had  been  sent 
back  by  cars,  but  had  not  passed  Chattanooga.  These 
I  ordered  back,  and  offered  General  Hood  to  exchange  them 
for  Stoneman,  Buell,  and  such  of  my  own  army  as  would  make 
up  the  equivalent;  but  I  would  not  exchange  for  his  prisoners 
generally,  because  I  knew  these  would  have  to  be  sent  to 
their  own  regiments,  away  from  my  army,  whereas  all  we  could 
give  him  could  at  once  be  put  to  duty  in  his  immediate  army. 
Quite  an  angry  correspondence  grew  up  between  us,  which 
was  published  at  the  time  in  the  newspapers,  but  it  is  not  to 
be  found  in  any  book  of  which  I  have  present  knowledge,  and 
therefore  is  given  here,  as  illustrative  of  the  events  referred 
to,  and  of  the  feelings  of  the  actors  in  the  game  of  war  at  that 
particular  crisis,  together  with  certain  other  original  letters 
of  Generals  Grant  and  Halleck,  never  hitherto  published. 

"'HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  September  12,  1864.  f 

"''Major-General    W.    T.    SHERMAN,   commanding    Military 
Division  of  the  Mississippi. 

"'GENERAL:   I  send  Lieutenant-Colonel  Horace  Porter,  of 


34-6  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

• 

my  staff,  with  this.  Colonel  Porter  will  explain  to  you  the 
exact  condition  of  affairs  here,  better  than  I  can  do  in  the 
limits  of  a  letter.  Although  I  feel  myself  strong  enough  now 
for  offensive  operations,  I  am  holding  on  quietly,  to  get  ad- 
vantage of  recruits  and  convalescents,  who  are  coming  for- 
ward very  rapidly.  My  lines  are  necessarily  very  long,  ex- 
tending from  Deep  Bottom,  north  of  the  James,  across  the 
peninsula  formed  by  the  Appomatox  and  the  James,  and 
south  of  the  Appomatox  to  the  Weldon  road.  This  line  is 
very  strongly  fortified,  and  can  be  held  with  comparatively 
few  men;  but,  from  its  great  length,  necessarily  takes  many 
in  the  aggregate.  I  propose,  when  I  do  move,  to  extend  my 
left  so  as  to  control  what  is  known  as  the  Southside,  or  Lynch- 
burg  &  Petersburg  road;  then,  if  possible,  to  keep  the  Dan- 
ville road  cut.  At  the  same  time  this  move  is  made,  I  want 
to  send  a  force  of  from  six  to  ten  thousand  men  against  Wil- 
mington. The  way  I  propose  to  do  this  is  to  land  the  men  north 
of  Fort  Fisher,  and  hold  that  point.  At  the  same  time  a  large 
naval  fleet  will  be  assembled  there,  and  the  iron-clads  will  run 
the  batteries  as  they  did  at  Mobile.  This  will  give  us  the  same 
control  of  the  harbor  of  Wilmington  that  we  now  have  of  the 
harbor  of  Mobile.  What  you  are  to  do  with  the  forces  at 
your  command,  I  do  not  exactly  see.  The  difficulties  of  sup- 
plying your  army,  except  when  they  are  constantly  moving 
beyond  where  you  are,  I  plainly  see.  If  it  had  not  been  for 
Price's  movement,  Canby  could  have  sent  twelve  thousand 
more  men  to  Mobile.  From  your  command  on  the  Missis- 
sippi, an  equal  number  could  have  been  taken.  With  these 
forces,  my  idea  would  have  been  to  divide  them,  sending 
one-half  to  Mobile,  and  the  other  half  to  Savannah.  You 
could  then  move  as  proposed  in  your  telegram,  so  as  to 
threaten  Macon  and  Augusta  equally.  Whichever  one  should 
be  abandoned  by  the  enemy,  you  could  take  and  open  up  a 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  347 

new  base  of  supplies.  My  object  now  in  sending  a  staff- 
officer  to  you  is  not  so  much  to  suggest  operations  for  you 
as  to  get  your  views,  and  to  have  plans  matured  by  the  time 
everything  can  be  got  ready.  It  would  probably  be  the 
5th  of  October  before  any  of  the  plans  here  indicated  will  be 
executed.  If  you  have  any  promotions  to  recommend,  send 
the  names  forward,  and  I  will  approve  them. 

"'In  conclusion,  it  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  say  that 
I  feel  you  have  accomplished  the  most  gigantic  undertaking 
given  to  any  general  in  this  war,  and  with  a  skill  and  ability 
that  will  be  acknowledged  in  history  as  unsurpassed,  if  not 
unequaled.  It  gives  me  as  much  pleasure  to  record  this  in 
your  favor  as  it  would  in  favor  of  any  living  man,  myself 
included. 

"'Truly  yours, 

*"U.  S.   GRANT,  Lieutenant-General.'" 

"'HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,   GEORGIA,  September  20,  1864.  ) 

"Lieutenant-General    U.    S.    GRANT,    Commander-in-Chief, 
City  Point,  Virginia. 

"'GENERAL:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  at  the  hands 
of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Porter,  of  your  staff,  your  letter  of 
September  I2th,  and  accept  with  thanks  the  honorable  and 
kindly  mention  of  the  services  of  this  army  in  the  great  cause 
in  which  we  are  all  engaged. 

"I  send  by  Colonel  Porter  all  official  reports  which  are 
completed,  and  will  in  a  few  days  submit  a  list  of  names 
which  are  deemed  worthy  of  promotion. 

"I  think  we  owe  it  to  the  President  to  save  him  the  invidi- 
ous task  of  selection  among  the  vast  number  of  worthy  appli- 
cants, and  have  ordered  my  army  commanders  to  prepare 
their  lists  with  great  care,  and  to  express  their  preference, 


34$  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

based  upon  claims  of  actual  capacity  and  services  rendered. 

"These  I  will  consolidate,  and  submit  in  such  a  form  that, 
if  mistakes  are  made,  they  will  at  least  be  sanctioned  by  the 
best  contemporaneous  evidence  of  merit,  for  I  know  that 
vacancies  do  not  exist  equal  in  number  to  that  of  the  officers 
who  really  deserve  promotion. 

"As  to  the  future,  I  am  pleased  to  know  that  your  army 
is  being  steadily  reinforced  by  a  good  class  of  men,  and  I 
hope  it  will  go  on  until  you  have  a  force  that  is  numerically 
double  that  of  your  antagonist,  so  that  with  one  part  you 
can  watch  him,  and  with  the  other  push  out  boldly  from 
your  left  flank,  occupy  the  Southside  Railroad,  compel  him 
to  attack  you  in  position,  or  accept  battle  on  your  own  terms. 

"We  ought  to  ask  our  country  for  the  largest  possible 
armies  that  can  be  raised,  as  so  important  a  thing  as  the 
self-existence  of  a  great  nation  should  not  be  left  to  the  fickle 
chances  of  war. 

"Now  that  Mobile  is  shut  out  to  the  commerce  of  our 
enemy,  it  calls  for  no  further  effort  on  our  part,  unless  the 
capture  of  the  city  can  be  followed  by  the  occupation  of  the 
Alabama  River  and  the  railroad  to  Columbus,  Georgia,  when 
that  place  would  be  a  magnificent  auxiliary  to  my  further 
progress  into  Georgia;  but,  until  General  Canby  is  much  re- 
inforced, and  until  he  can  more  thoroughly  subdue  the  scat- 
tered armies  west  of  the  Mississippi,  I  suppose  that  much 
cannot  be  attempted  by  him  against  the  Alabama  River  and 
Columbus,  Georgia. 

"The  utter  destruction  of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  is 
of  importance  only  in  connection  with  the  necessity  of  cutting 
off  all  foreign  trade  to  our  enemy,  and  if  Admiral  Farragut 
can  get  across  the  bar,  and  move  quickly,  I  suppose  he  will 
succeed.  From  my  knowledge  of  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear 
River,  I  anticipate  more  difficulty  in  getting  the  heavy  ships 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN.  349 

across  the  bar  than  in  reaching  the  town  of  Wilmington; 
but,  of  course,  the  soundings  of  the  channel  are  well  known 
at  Washington,  as  well  as  the  draught  of  his  iron-clads,  so 
that  it  must  be  demonstrated  to  be  feasible,  or  else  it  would 
not  be  attempted.  If  successful,  I  suppose  that  Fort  Cas- 
well  will  be  occupied,  and  the  fleet  at  once  sent  to  the  Savan- 
nah River.  Then  the  reduction  of  that  city  is  the  next 
question.  It  once  in  our  possession,  and  the  river  open  to 
us,  I  would  not  hesitate  to  cross  the  State  of  Georgia  with 
sixty  thousand  men,  hauling  some  stores,  and  depending  on 
the  country  for  the  balance.  Where  a  million  of  people  find 
subsistence,  my  army  won't  starve;  but,  as  you  know,  in  a 
country  like  Georgia,  with  few  roads  and  innumerable  streams, 
an  inferior  force  can  so  delay  an  army  and  harass  it,  that  it 
would  not  be  a  formidable  object;  but  if  the  enemy  knew  that 
we  had  our  boats  in  the  Savannah  River  I  could  rapidly  move 
to  Milledgeville,  where  there  is  an  abundance  of  corn  and 
meat,  and  could  so  threaten  Macon  and  Augusta  that  the 
enemy  would  doubtless  give  up  Macon  for  Augusta;  then  I 
would  move  so  as  to  interpose  between  Augusta  and  Savannah, 
and  force  him  to  give  us  Augusta,  with  the  only  powder-mills 
and  factories  remaining  in  the  South,  or  let  us  have  the  use 
of  the  Savannah  River.  Either  horn  of  the  dilemma  will 
be  worth  a  battle.  I  would  prefer  his  holding  Augusta,  as  the 
probabilities  are;  for  then,  with  the  Savannah  River  in  our 
possession/  the  taking  of  Augusta  would  be  a  mere  matter  of 
time.  This  campaign  can  be  made  in  the  winter. 

"But  the  more  I  study  the  game,  the  more  am  I  convinced 
that  it  would  be  wrong  for  us  to  penetrate  farther  into 
Georgia  without  an  objective  beyond.  It  would  not  be  pro- 
ductive of  much  good.  I  can  start  east  and  make  a  circuit 
south  and  back,  doing  vast  damage  to  the  State,  but  result- 
ing in  no  permanent  good;  and  by  mere  threatening  to  do  so 


3  $O  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

I  hold  a  rod  over  the  Georgians,  who  are  not  over-loyal  to 
the  South.  I  will  therefore  give  it  as  my  opinion  that  your 
army  and  Canby's  should  be  reinforced  to  the  maximum; 
that,  after  you  get  Wilmington,  you  should  strike  for  Savan- 
nah and  its  river;  that  General  Canby  should  hold  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  and  send  a  force  to  take  Columbus,  Georgia, 
either  by  way  of  the  Alabama  or  Appalachicola  River;  that 
I  should  keep  Hood  employed  and  put  my  army  in  fine  order 
for  a  march  on  Augusta,  Columbia,  and  Charleston;  and  start 
as  soon  as  Wilmington  is  sealed  to  commerce,  and  the  city 
of  Savannah  is  in  our  possession. 

"I  think  it  will  be  found  that  the  movements  of  Price  and 
Shelby,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  are  mere  diversions.  They 
cannot  hope  to  enter  Missouri  except  as  raiders;  and  the 
truth  is,  that  General  Rosecrans  should  be  ashamed  to  take 
my  troops  for  such  a  purpose.  If  you  will  secure  Wilming- 
ton and  the  city  of  Savannah  from  your  center,  and  let  General 
Canby  have  command  over  the  Mississippi  River  and  country 
west  of  it,  I  will  send  a  force  to  the  Alabama  and  Appalachi- 
cola, provided  you  give  me  one  hundred  thousand  of  the 
drafted  men  to  fill  up  my  old  regiments;  and  if  you  will  fix  a 
day  to  be  in  Savannah,  I  will  insure  our  possession  of  Macon 
and  a  point  on  the  river  below  Augusta.  The  possession  of 
the  Savannah  River  is  more  than  fatal  to  the  possibility  of 
Southern  independence.  They  may  stand  the  fall  of  Rich- 
mond, but  not  of  all  Georgia. 

"I  will  have  a  long  talk  with  Colonel  Porter,  and  tell  him 
everything  that  may  occur  to  me  of  interest  to  you. 

"'In  the  meantime,  know  that  I  admire  your  dogged  perse- 
verance and  pluck  more  than  ever.  If  you  can  whip  Lee 
and  I  can  march  to  the  Atlantic,  I  think  Uncle  Abe  will  give 
us  a  twenty  days'  leave  of  absence  to  see  the  young  folks. 

"' Yours  as  ever,          W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General.'" 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  3$ I 

"'HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY,    ) 
WASHINGTON,   September  16,    1864.  ) 

*"  General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 

"'MY  DEAR  GENERAL:  Your  very  interesting  letter  of  the 
4th  is  just  received.  Its  perusal  has  given  me  the  greatest 
pleasure.  I  have  not  written  before  to  congratulate  you  on 
the  capture  of  Atlanta,  the  objective  point  of  your  brilliant 
campaign,  for  the  reason  that  I  have  been  suffering  from  my 
annual  attack  of  'coryza, '  or  hay-cold.  It  affects  my  eyes  so 
much  that  I  can  scarcely  see  to  write.  As  you  suppose,  I 
have  watched  your  movements  most  attentively  and  critic- 
ally, and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  your  campaign  has 
been  the  most  brilliant  of  the  war.  Its  results  are  less  strik- 
ing and  less  complete  than  those  of  General  Grant  at  Vicks- 
burg,  but  then  you  have  had  greater  difficulties  to  encounter, 
a  longer  line  of  communications  to  keep  up,  and  a  longer  and 
more  continuous  strain  upon  yourself  and  upon  your  army. 

"'You  must  have  been  very  considerably  annoyed  by  the 
State  negro  recruiting  agents.  Your  letter  was  a  capital 
one,  and  did  much  good.  The  law  was  a  ridiculous  one;  it 
was  opposed  by  the  War  Department,  but  passed  through 
the  influence  of  Eastern  manufacturers,  who  hoped  to  escape 
the  draft  in  that  way.  They  were  making  immense  fortunes 
out  of  the  war,  and  could  well  afford  to  purchase  negro  re- 
cruits, and  thus  save  their  employes  at  home. 

"'I  fully  agree  with  you  in  regard  to  the  policy  of  a  strin- 
gent draft;  but,  unfortunately,  political  influences  are  against 
us,  and  I  fear  it  will  not  amount  to  much.  Mr.  Seward's 
speech  at  Auburn,  again  prophesying,  for  the  twentieth  time, 
that  the  Rebellion  would  be  crushed  in  a  few  months,  and 
saying  that  there  would  be  no  draft,  as  we  now  had  enough 
soldiers  to  end  the  war,  etc.,  has  done  much  harm,  in  a 
military  point  of  view.  I  have  seen  enough  of  politics  here 


352  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

to  last  me  for  life.  You  are  right  in  avoiding  them.  Mc- 
Clellan  may  possibly  reach  the  White  House,  but  he  will  lose 
the  respect  of  all  honest,  high-minded  patriots,  by  his  affilia- 
tion with  such  traitors  and  Copperheads  as  B — ,  V — ,  W — , 
S —  &  Co.  He  would  not  stand  upon  the  traitorous  Chicago 
platform,  but  he  had  not  the  manliness  to  oppose  it.  A 
Major-General  in  the  United  States  Army,  and  yet  not  one 
word  to  utter  against  Rebels  or  the  Rebellion!  I  had  much 
respect  for  McClellan  before  he  became  a  politician,  but 
very  little  after  reading  his  letter  accepting  the  nomination. 

"'Hooker  certainly  made  a  mistake  in  leaving  before  the 
capture  of  Atlanta.  I  understand  that,  when  here,  he  said  that 
you  would  fail;  your  army  was  discouraged  and  dissatisfied, 
etc.,  etc.  He  is  most  unmeasured  in  his  abuse  of  me.  I  in- 
close you  a  specimen  of  what  he  publishes  in  Northern  papers, 
wherever  he  goes.  They  are  dictated  by  himself  and  written 
by  W.  B.  and  such  worthies.  The  funny  part  of  the  busi- 
ness is,  that  I  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  his  being  re- 
lieved on  either  occasion.  Moreover,  I  have  never  said  any- 
thing to  the  President  or  Secretary  of  War  to  injure  him  in 
the  slightest  degree,  and  he  knows  that  perfectly  well.  His 
animosity  arises  from  another  source.  He  is  aware  that  I 
know  some  things  about  his  character  and  conduct  in  Cali- 
fornia, and,  fearing  that  I  may  use  that  information  against 
him,  he  seeks  to  ward  off  its  effect  by  making  it  appear  that 
I  am  his  personal  enemy,  am  jealous  of  him,  etc.  I  know 
of  no  other  reason  for  his  hostility  to  me.  He  is  welcome 
to  abuse  me  as  much  as  he  pleases;  I  don't  think  it  will  do 
him  much  good,  or  me  much  harm.  I  know  very  little  of 
General  Howard,  but  believe  him  to  be  a  true,  honorable 
man.  Thomas  is  also  a  noble  old  war-horse.  It  is  true,  as 
you  say,  that  he  is  slow,  but  he  is  always  sure. 

lul  have  not  seen  General  Grant  since. the  fall  of  Atlanta, 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  353 

and  do  not  know  what  instructions  he  has  sent  you.  I  fear 
that  Canby  has  not  the  means  to  do  much  by  way  of  Mobile. 
The  military  effects  of  Banks'  disaster  are  now  showing 
themselves  by  the  threatened  operations  of  Price  &  Co.  toward 
Missouri,  thus  keeping  in  check  our  armies  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

"'With  many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter,  and  wishes  for 
your  future  success,  yours  truly, 

<"H.  W.  HALLE CK.'" 

"'HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
ATLANTA,   GEORGIA,  September  20,  1864.  ) 

"' Major-General  HALLECK,  Chief  of  Staff,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"'GENERAL:  I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  submit  copies  of 
a  correspondence  between  General  Hood,  of  the  Confederate 
Army,  the  Mayor  of  Atlanta,  and  myself,  touching  the  re- 
moval of  the  inhabitants  of  Atlanta. 

"'In  explanation  of  the  tone  which  marks  some  of  these 
letters,  1  will  only  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that,  after 
I  had  announced  my  determination,  General  Hood  took  upon 
himself  to  question  my  motives.  I  could  not  tamely  submit 
to  such  impertinence;  and  I  have  also  seen  that,  in  violation 
of  all  official  usage,,  he  has  published  in  the  Macon  newspapers 
such  parts  of  the  correspondence  as  suited  his  purpose.  This 
could  have  had  no  other  object  than  to  create  a  feeling  on 
the  part  of  the  people;  but  if  he  expects  to  resort  to  such  ar- 
tifices, I  think  I  can  meet  him  there  too. 

'"It  is  sufficient  for  my  Government  to  know  that  the  re- 
moval of  the  inhabitants  has  been  made  with  liberality  and 
fairness,  that  it  has  been  attended  with  no  force,  and  that 
no  women  or  children  have  suffered,  unless  for  want  of  pro- 
visions by  their  natural  protectors  and  friends. 

"'My  real  reasons  for  this  step  were: 

23 


354  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

'"We  want  all  the  houses  of  Atlanta  for  military  storage 
and  occupation. 

'"  We  want  to  contract  the  lines  of  defense,  so  as  to  diminish 
the  garrison  to  the  limit  necessary  to  defend  its  narrow  and 
vital  parts,  instead  of  embracing,  as  the  lines  now  do,  the 
vast  suburbs.  This  contraction  of  the  lines,  with  the  neces- 
sary citadels  and  redoubts,  will  make  it  necessary  to  destroy 
the  very  houses  used  by  families  as  residences. 

"'Atlanta  is  a  fortified  town,  was  stubbornly  defended,  and 
fairly  captured.  As  captors,  we  have  a  right  to  it. 

"'The  residence  here  of  a  poor  population  would  compel  us, 
sooner  or  later,  to  feed  them  or  to  see  them  starve  under  our 
eyes. 

'"The  residence  here  of  the  families  of  our  enemies  would  be 
a  temptation  and  a  means  to  keep  up  a  correspondence  dan- 
gerous and  hurtful  to  our  cause;  a  civil  population  calls  for 
provost-guards,  and  absorbs  the  attention  of  officers  in  listen- 
ing to  everlasting  complaints  and  special  grievances  that  are 
not  military. 

'"These  are  my  reasons;  and,  if  satisfactory  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  it  makes  no  difference  whether  it 
pleases  General  Hood  and  his  people  or  not.  I  am,  with 
respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"'W.   T.   SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding. "; 

'"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,   September  7,    1864.  f 

'"  General  HOOD,  commanding  Confederate  Army. 

•"GENERAL:  I  have  deemed  it  to  the  interest  of  the  United 
States  that  the  citizens  now  residing  in  Atlanta  should  re- 
move, those  who  prefer  it  to  go  south,  and  the  rest  north. 
For  the  latter  I  can  provide  food  and  transportation  to 
points  of  their  election  in  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  or  farther 
north.  For  the  former  I  can  provide  transportation  by  cars 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  355 

as  far  as  Rough  and  Ready,  and  also  wagons;  but,  that  their 
removal  may  be  made  with  as  little  discomfort  as  possible,  it 
will  be  necessary  for  you  to  help  the  families  from  Rough  and 
Ready  to  the  cars  at  Lovejoy's.  If  you  consent,  I  will  un- 
dertake to  remove  all  the  families  in  Atlanta  who  prefer  to  go 
south  to  Rough  and  Ready,  with  all  their  movable  effects, 
viz.,  clothing,  trunks,  reasonable  furniture,  bedding,  etc., 
with  their  servants,  white  and  black,  with  the  proviso  that 
no  force  shall  be  used  toward  the  blacks,  one  way  or  the 
other.  If  they  want  to  go  with  their  masters  or  mistresses, 
they  may  do  so;  otherwise  they  will  be  sent  away,  unless 
they  be  men,  when  they  may  be  employed  by  our  quarter- 
master. Atlanta  is  no  place  for  families  or  non-combatants, 
and  I  have  no  desire  to  send  them  north  if  you  will  assist  in 
conveying  them  south.  If  this  proposition  meets  your  views, 
I  will  consent  to  a  truce  in  the  neighborhood  of  Rough  and 
Ready,  stipulating  that  any  wagons,  horses,  animals,  or  persons 
sent  there  for  the  purposes  herein  stated,  shall  in  no  manner 
be  harmed  or  molested;  you  in  your  turn  agreeing  that  any 
cars,  wagons,  or  carriages,  persons  or  animals  sent  to  the 
same  point,  shall  not  be  interfered  with.  Each  of  us  might 
send  a  guard  of,  say,  one  hundred  men,  to  maintain  order,  and 
limit  the  truce  to,  say,  two  days  after  a  certain  time  ap- 
pointed. 

"'I  have  authorized  the  mayor  to  choose  two  citizens  to 
convey  to  you  this  letter,  with  such  documents  as  the  mayor 
may  forward  in  explanation,  and  shall  await  your  reply.  I 
have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

"'W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding.'" 

"'HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  TENNESSEE,  ) 
OFFICE  CHIEF  OF  STAFF,  September  9,  1864.  j 

ili  Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding  United  States 
Forces  in  Georgia. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"'GENERAL:  Your  letter  of  yesterday's  date,  borne  by  James 
M.  Ball  and  James  R.  Crew,  citizens  of  Atlanta,  is  received. 
You  say  therein,  "I  deem  it  to  be  to  the  interest  of  the 
United  States  that  the  citizens  now  residing  in  Atlanta  should 
remove,"  etc.  I  do  not  consider  that  I  have  any  alternative 
in  this  matter.  I  therefore  accept  your  proposition  to  declare 
a  truce  of  two  days,  or  such  time  as  may  be  necessary  to  ac- 
complish the  purpose  mentioned,  and  shall  render  all  assist- 
ance in  my  power  to  expedite  the  transportation  of  citizens 
in  this  direction.  I  suggest  that  a  staff-officer  be  appointed 
by  you  to  superintend  the  removal  from  the  city  to  Rough 
and  Ready,  while  I  appoint  a  like  officer  to  control  their  re- 
moval farther  south;  that  a  guard  of  one  hundred  men  be 
sent  by  either  party  as  you  propose,  to  maintain  order  at 
that  place,  and  that  the  removal  begin  on  Monday  next. 

"'And  now,  sir,  permit  me  to  say  that  the  unprecedented 
measure  you  propose  transcends,  in  studied  and  ingenious 
cruelty,  all  acts  ever  before  brought  to  my  attention  in  the 
dark  history  of  war. 

"'In  the  name  of  God  and  humanity,  I  protest,  believing 
that  you  will  find  that  you  are  expelling  from  their  homes  and 
firesides  the  wives  and  children  of  a  brave  people.  I  am, 
general,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

'"J.  B.  HOOD,  General'" 

'"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  September  10,  1864.  j 

"' General  J.  B.  HOOD,  commanding  Army  of  Tennessee,  Co 

federate  Army. 

'"GENERAL:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  this  date,  at  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Ball  and 
Crew,  consenting  to  the  arrangements  I  had  proposed  to  facil- 
itate the  removal  south  of  the  people  of  Atlanta,  who  prefer 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  357 

to  go  in  that  direction.  I  inclose  you  a  copy  of  my  orders, 
which  will,  I  am  satisfied,  accomplish  my  purpose  perfectly. 

"'You  style  the  measures  proposed  "unprecedented,"  and 
appeal  to  the  dark  history  of  war  for  a  parallel,  as  an  act  of 
"studied  and  ingenious  cruelty."  It  is  not  unprecedented, 
for  General  Johnston  himself  very  wisely  and  properly  re- 
moved the  families  all  the  way  from  Dalton  down,  and  I  see 
no  reason  why  Atlanta  should  be  excepted.  Nor  is  it  neces- 
sary to  appeal  to  the  dark  history  of  war,  when  recent  and 
modern  examples  are  so  handy.  You  yourself  burned  dwell- 
ing-houses along  your  parapet,  and  I  have  seen  to-day  fifty 
houses  that  you  have  rendered  uninhabitable  because  they 
stood  in  the  way  of  your  forts  and  men.  You  defended  At- 
lanta on  a  line  so  close  to  town  that  every  cannon-shot  and 
many  musket-shots  from  our  line  of  investment,  that  over- 
shot their  mark,  went  into  the  habitations  of  women  and 
children.  General  Hardee  did  the  same  at  Jonesboro',  and 
General  Johnston  did  the  same,  last  summer,  at  Jackson, 
Mississippi.  I  have  not  accused  you  of  heartless  cruelty,  but 
merely  instance  these  cases  of  very  recent  occurrence,  and 
could  go  on  and  enumerate  hundreds  of  others,  and  challenge 
any  fair  man  to  judge  which  of  us  has  the  heart  of  pity  for. 
the  families  of  a  "brave  people." 

"'I  say  that  it  is  kindness  to  these  families  of  Atlanta  to 
remove  them  now,  at  once,  from  scenes  that  women  and  chil- 
dren should  not  be  exposed  to,  and  the  "brave  people"  should 
scorn  to  commit  their  wives  and  children  to  the  rude  barba- 
rians who  thus,  as  you  say,  violate  the  laws  of  war,  as  illus- 
trated in  the  pages  of  its  dark  history. 

"'In  the  name  of  common  sense,  I  ask  you  not  to  appeal  to 
a  just  God  in  such  a  sacrilegious  manner.  You  who,  in  the 
midst  of  peace  and  prosperity,  have  plunged  a  nation  into 
war — dark  and  cruel  war — who  dared  and  badgered  us  to 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

battle,  insulted  our  flag,  seized  our  arsenals  and  forts  that 
were  left  in  the  honorable  custody  of  peaceful  ordnance-ser- 
geants, seized  and  made  "prisoners  of  war"  the  very  garrisons 
sent  to  protect  your  people  against  negroes  and  Indians,  long 
before  any  overt  act  was  committed  by  the — to  you — hated 
Lincoln  Government;  tried  to  force  Kentucky  and  Missouri 
into  Rebellion,  spite  of  themselves;  falsified  the  vote  of  Lou- 
isiana; turned  loose  your  privateers  to  plunder  unarmed 
ships;  expelled  Union  families  by  the  thousands,  burned  their 
houses,  and  declared,  by  an  act  of  your  Congress,  the  confis- 
cation of  all  debts  due  Northern  men  for  goods  had  and  re- 
ceived! Talk  thus  to  the  marines,  but  not  to  me,  who  have 
seen  these  things,  and  who  will  this  day  make  as  much  sac- 
rifice for  the  peace  and  honor  of  the  South  as  the  best-born 
Southerner  among  you!  If  we  must  be  enemies,  let  us  be 
men,  and  fight  it  oat  as  we  propose  to  do,  and  not  deal  in 
such  hypocritical  appeals  to  God  and  humanity.  God  will 
judge  us  in  due  time,  and  he  will  pronounce  whether  it  be 
more  humane  to  fight  with  a  town  full  of  women  and  the  fam- 
ilies of  a  brave  people  at  our  back,  or  to  remove  them  in  time 
to  places  of  safety  among  their  own  friends  and  people.  I 
am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"'W.  T.  SHERMAN, 
"'Major-General  commanding.'" 

"'HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  TENNESSEE,  ) 
September  12,   1864.   j 

"' Major-General     W.  T.  SHERMAN,      Commanding  Military 
Division  of  the  Misssispipi. 

"'GENERAL:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  letter  of  the  Qth  inst.,  with  its  inclosure  in  reference 
to  the  women,  children,  and  others,  whom  you  have  thought 
proper  to  expel  from  their  homes  in  the  city  of  Atlanta.  Had 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  359 

you  seen  proper  to  let  the  matter  rest  there,  I  would  gladly 
havs  allowed  your  letter  to  close  this  correspondence,  and, 
without  your  expressing  it  in  words,  would  have  been  willing 
to  believe  that,  while  "the  interests  of  the  United  States,"  in 
your  opinion,  compelled  you  to  an  act  of  barbarous  cruelty, 
you  regretted  the  necessity,  and  we  would  have  dropped  the 
subject;  but  you  have  chosen  to  indulge  in  statements  which 
I  feel  compelled  to  notice,  at  least  as  far  as  to  signify  my 
dissent,  and  not  allow  silence  in  regard  to  them  to  be  con- 
strued as  acquiescence. 

'"I  see  nothing  in  your  communication  which  induces  me  to 
modify  the  languge  of  condemnation  with  which  I  character- 
ized your  order.  It  but  strengthens  me  in  the  opinion  that  it 
stands  "preeminent  in  the  dark  history  of  war  for  studied  and 
ingenious  cruelty  "  Your  original  order  was  stripped  of  all 
pretenses;  you  announced  the  edict  for  the  sole  reason  that  it 
was  "to  the  interests  of  the  United  States."  This  alone  you 
offered  to  us  and  the  civilized  world  as  an  all-sufficient  rea- 
son for  disregarding  the  laws  of  God  and  man.  You  say  that 
"General  Johnston  himself  very  wisely  and  properly  removed 
the  families  all  the  way  from  Dalton  down."  It  is  due  to 
that  gallant  soldier  and  gentleman  to  say  that  no  act  of  his 
distinguished  career  gives  the  least  color  to  your  unfounded 
aspersions  upon  his  conduct.  He  depopulated  no  villages, 
nor  towns,  nor  cities,  either  friendly  or  hostile.  He  offered 
and  extended  friendly  aid  to  his  unfortunate  fellow-citizens 
who  desired  to  flee  from  your  fraternal  embraces.  You  are 
equally  unfortunate  in  your  attempt  to  find  a  justification  for 
this  act  of  cruelty,  either  in  the  defense  of  Jonesboro',  by 
General  Hardee,  or  of  Atlanta,  by  myself.  General  Hardee 
defended  his  position  in  front  of  Jonesboro',  at  the  expense 
of  injury  to  the  houses;  an  ordinary,  proper,  and  justifiable 
act  of  war.  I  defended  Atlanta  at  the  same  risk  and  cost. 


360  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

If  there  was  any  fault  in  either  case,  it  was  your  own,  in 
not  giving  notice,  especially  in  the  case  of  Atlanta,  of  your 
purposes  to  shell  the  town,  which  is  usual  in  war  among 
civilized  nations.  No  inhabitant  was  expelled  from  his  home 
and  fireside  by  the  orders  of  General  Hardee  or  myself,  and 
therefore  your  recent  order  can  find  no  support  from  the  con- 
duct of  either  of  us.  I  feel  no  other  emotion  other  than  pain 
in  reading  that  portion  of  your  letter  which  attempts  to  justify 
your  shelling  Atlanta  without  notice  under  pretense  that  I 
defended  Atlanta  upon  a  line  so  close  to  town  that  every 
cannon-shot  and  many  musket-balls  from  your  line  of  invest- 
ment, that  overshot  their  mark,  went  into  the  habitations  of 
women  and  children.  I  made  no  complaint  of  your  firing 
into  Atlanta  in  any  way  you  thought  proper.  I  make  none 
now,  but  there  are  a  hundred  thousand  witnesses  that  you 
fired  into  the  habitations  of  women  and  children  for  weeks, 
firing  far  above  and  miles  beyond  my  line  of  defense.  I  have 
too  good  an  opinion,  founded  both  upon  observation  and  expe- 
rience, of  the  skill  of  your  artillerists,  to  credit  the  insinuation 
that  they  for  several  weeks  unintentionally  fired  too  high  for 
my  modest  field-works,  and  slaughtered  women  and  children 
by  accident  and  want  of  skill. 

"'The  residue  of  your  letter  is  rather  discussion.  It  opens 
a  wide  field  for  the  discussion  of  questions  which  I  do  not 
feel  are  committed  to  me.  I  am  only  a  general  of  one  of 
the  armies  of  the  Confederate  States,  charged  with  military 
operations  in  the  field,  under  the  direction  of  my  superior 
officers,  and  I  am  not  called  upon  to  discuss  with  you  the 
causes  of  the  present  war,  or  the  political  questions  which 
led  to  or  resulted  from  it.  These  grave  and  important  ques- 
tions have  been  committed  to  far  abler  hands  than  mine,  and 
I  shall  only  refer  to  them  so  far  as  to  repel  any  unjust  con- 
clusion which  might  be  drawn  from  my  silence.  You  charge 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  36! 

my  country  with  "daring  and  badgering  you  to  battle."  The 
truth  is,  we  sent  commissioners  to  you,  respectfully  offering  a 
peaceful  separation,  before  the  first  gun  was  fired  on  either 
side.  You  say  we  insulted  your  flag.  The  truth  is,  we  fired 
upon  it,  and  those  who  fought  under  it,  when  you  came  to 
our  doors  upon  the  mission  of  subjugation.  You  say  we 
seized  upon  your  forts  and  arsenals,  and  made  prisoners  of 
the  garrisons  sent  to  protect  us  against  negroes  and  Indians. 
The  truth  is,  we,  by  force  of  arms,  drove  out  insolent  intruders 
and  took  possession  of  our  own  forts  and  arsenals,  to  resist 
your  claims  to  dominion  over  masters,  slaves,  and  Indians, 
all  of  whom  are  to  this  day,  with  a  unanimity  unexampled  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  warring  against  your  attempts  to 
become  their  masters.  You  say  that  we  tried  to  force  Mis- 
souri and  Kentucky  into  rebellion  in  spite  of  themselves. 
The  truth  is,  my  government,  from  the  beginning  of  this 
struggle  to  this  hour,  has  again  and  again  offered,  before  the 
whole  world,  to  leave  it  to  the  unbiased  will  of  these  States, 
and  all  others,  to  determine  for  themselves  whether  they  will 
cast  their  destiny  with  your  Government  or  ours;  and  your 
Government  has  resisted  this  fundamental  principle  of  free 
institutions  with  the  bayonet,  and  labors  daily,  by  force  and 
fraud,  to  fasten  its  hateful  tyranny  upon  the  unfortunate  free- 
men of  these  States.  You  say  we  falsified  the  vote  of  Louisi- 
ana. The  truth  is,  Louisiana  not  only  separated  herself  from 
your  Government  by  nearly  an  unanimous  vote  of  her  people, 
but  has  vindicated  the  act  upon  every  battle-field  from  Gettys- 
burg to  the  Sabine,  and  has  exhibited  an  heroic  devotion  to 
her  decision  which  challenges  the  admiration  and  respect  of 
every  man  capable  of  feeling  sympathy  for  the  oppressed  or 
admiration  for  heroic  valor.  You  say  that  we  turned  loose 
pirates  to  plunder  your  unarmed  ships.  The  truth  is,  when 
you  robbed  us  of  our  part  of  the  navy,  we  built  and  bought  a 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

few  vessels,  hoisted  the  flag  of  our  country,  and  swept  t.ho 
seas,  in  defiance  of  your  navy,  around  the  whole  circumfer- 
ence of  the  globe.  You  say  we  have  expelled  Union  families 
by  thousands.  The  truth  is,  not  a  single  family  has  been 
expelled  from  the  Confederate  States,  that  I  am  aware  of; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  the  moderation  of  our  government  to- 
ward traitors  has  been  a  fruitful  theme  of  denunciation  by  its 
enemies  and  well-meaning  friends  of  our  cause.  You  say  my 
government,,  by  acts  of  Congress,  has  consficated  "all  debts 
due  Northern  men  for  goods  sold  and  delivered."  The  truth 
is,  our  Congress  gave  due  and  ample  time  to  your  merchants 
and  traders  to  depart  from  our  shores  with  their  ships,  goods, 
and  effects,  and  only  sequestrated  the  property  of  our  ene- 
mies in  retaliation  for  their  acts — declaring  us  traitors,  and 
confiscating  our  property  wherever  their  power  extended, 
either  in  their  country  or  our  own.  Such  are  your  accusa- 
tions, and  such  are  the  facts  known  of  all  men  to  be  true. 

"'You  order  into  exile  the  whole  population  of  a  city;  drive 
men,  women,  and  children  from  their  homes  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet,  under  the  plea  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of  your 
Government,  and  on  the  claim  that  it  is  an  act  of  "kindness 
to  these  families  of  Atlanta."  Butler  only  banished  from 
New  Orleans  the  registered  enemies  of  his  Government,  and 
acknowledged  that  he  did  it  as  a  punishment.  You  issue  a 
sweeping  edict,  covering  all  the  inhabitants  of  a  city,  and 
add  insult  to  the  injury  heaped  upon  the  defenseless  by 
assuming  that  you  have  done  them  a  kindness.  This  you 
follow  by  the  assertion  that  you  "will  make  as  much  sacrifice 
for  the  peace  and  honor  of  the  South  as  the  best-born  South- 
erner." And,  because  I  characterize  what  you  call  a  kind- 
ness as  being  real  cruelty,  you  presume  to  sit  in  judgment 
between  me  and  my  God;  and  you  decide  that  my  earnest 
prayer  to  the  Almighty  Father  to  save  our  women  and  chil- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  363 

dren  from  what  you  call  kindness,  is  a  "sacrilegious,  hypo- 
critical   appeal." 

'"You  came  into  our  country  with  your  army,  avowedly 
for  the  purpose  of  subjugating  free  white  men,  women,  and 
children,  and  not  only  intend  to  rule  over  them,  but  you 
make  negroes  your  allies,  and  desire  to  place  over  us  an  in- 
ferior race,  which  we  have  raised  from  barbarism  to  its  pres- 
ent position,  which  is  the  highest  ever  attained  by  that  race, 
in  any  country,  in  all  time.  I  must,  therefore,  decline  to 
accept  your  statements  in  reference  to  your  kindness  toward 
the  people  of  Atlanta,  and  your  willingness  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing for  the  peace  and  honor  of  the  South,  and  refuse  to 
be  governed  by  your  decision  in  regard  to  matters  between 
myself,  my  country,  and  my  God. 

'"You  say,  "Let  us  fight  it  out  like  men."  To  this  my  reply 
is — for  myself,  and  I  believe  for  all  the  true  men,  aye,  and 
women  and  children,  in  my  country — we  will  fight  you  to  the 
daath!  Better  die  a  thousand  deaths  than  submit  to  live 
under  you  or  your  Government  and  your  negro  allies! 

'"Having  answered  the  points  forced  upon  me  by  your  let- 
ter of  the  Qth  of  September,  I  close  this  correspondence  with 
you;  and,  notwithstanding  your  comments  upon  my  appeal 
to  God  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  I  again  humbly  and  rever- 
ently invoke  His  almighty  aid  in  defense  of  justice  and  right. 

'"Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

'"J.  B.  HOOD,  General.'" 

'"ATLANTA,  GA.,   September  n,  1864. 

"' Major --General  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

'"SiR:  We  the  undersigned,  Mayor  and  two  of  the  Coun- 
cil for  the  city  of  Atlanta,  for  the  time  being  the  only  legal 
organ  of  the  people  of  the  said  city,  to  express  their  wants 
and  wishes,  ask  leave  most  earnestly  but  respectfully  to  peti- 


364  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

tion  you  to  reconsider  the  order  requiring  them  to  leave  At- 
lanta. 

'"At  first  view,  it  struck  us  that  the  measure  would  involve 
extraordinary  hardship  and  loss,  but  since  we  have  seen  the 
practical  execution  of  it  so  far  as  it  has  progressed,  and  the 
individual  condition  of  the  people,  and  heard  their  state- 
ments as  to  the  inconveniences,  loss,  and  suffering  attending 
it,  we  are  satisfied  that  the  amount  of  it  will  involve  in  the 
aggregate  consequences  appalling  and  heart-rending. 

"'Many  poor  women  are  in  advanced  state  of  pregnancy, 
others  now  having  young  children,  and  whose  husbands  for 
the  greater  part  are  either  in  the  army,  prisoners,  or  dead. 
Some  say:  "I  have  such  a  one  sick  at  my  house;  who  will 
wait  on  them  when  I  am  gone?"  Others  say:  "What  are  we 
to  do?  We  have  no  house  to  go  to,  and  no  means  to  buy, 
build,  or  rent  any;  no  parents,  relatives,  or  friends  to  go  to." 
Another  says:  "I  will  try  and  take  this  or  that  article  of  prop- 
erty, but  such  and  such  things  I  must  leave  behind,  though  I 
need  them  much."  \Ve  reply  to  them:  "General  Sherman 
will  carry  your  property  to  Rough  and  Ready,  and  General 
Hood  will  take  it  thence  on."  And  they  will  reply  to  that: 
"But  I  want  to  leave  the  railroad  at  such  a  place,  and  cannot 
get  conveyance  from  there  on." 

'"We  only  refer  to  a  few  facts,  to  try  to  illustrate  in  part 
how  this  measure  will  operate  in  practice.  As  you  advanced, 
the  people  north  of  this  fell  back;  and  before  your  arrival  here, 
a  large  portion  of  the  people  had  retired  south,  so  that  the 
country  south  of  this  is  already  crowded,  and  without  houses 
enough  to  accommodate  the  people,  and  we  are  informed  that 
many  are  now  staying  in  churches  and  other  out-buildings. 

"'This  being  so,  how  is  it  possible  for  the  people  still  here 
mostly  women  and  children,  to  find  any  shelter?  And  how 
can  they  live  through  the  winter  in  the  woods — no  shelter 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  365 

or  subsistence,  in  the  midst  of  strangers  who  know  them  not, 
and  without  the  power  to  assist  them  much,  if  they  were 
willing  to  do  so? 

'"This  is  but  a  feeble  picture  of  the  consequences  of  this 
measure.  You  know  the  woe,  the  horrors,  and  the  suffering 
cannot  be  described  by  words;  imagination  can  only  conceive 
of  it,  and  we  ask  you  to  take  these  things  into  considera- 
tion. 

"'We  know  your  mind  and  time  are  constantly  occupied 
with  the  duties  of  your  command,  which  almost  deters  us 
from  asking  your  attention  to  this  matter,  but  thought  it 
might  be  that  you  had  not  considered  this  subject  in  all  of 
its  awful  consequences,  and  that  on  more  reflection  you,  we 
hope,  would  not  make  this  people  an  exception  to  all  man- 
kind, for  we  know  of  no  such  instance  ever  having  occurred — 
surely  never  in  the  United  States — and  what  has  this  helpless 
people  done,  that  they  should  be  driven  from  their  homes, 
to  wander  strangers  and  outcasts,  and  exiles,  and  to  subsist 
on  charity? 

"'We  do  not  know  as  yet  the  number  of  people  still  here; 
of  those  who  are  here,  we  are  satisfied  a  respectable  number, 
if  allowed  to  remain  at  home,  could  subsist  for  several  months 
without  assistance,  and  a  respectable  number  for  a  much 
longer  time,  and  who  might  not  need  assistance  at  any 
time. 

'"In  conclusion,  we  most  earnestly  and  solemnly  petition 
you  to  reconsider  this  order,  or  modify  it,  and  suffer  this 
unfortunate  people  to  remain  at  home,  and  enjoy  what  little 
means  they  have. 

'"Respectfully  submitted: 

'"JAMES  M.  CALHOUN,  Mayor. 

'"E.  E.  RAWSON,  Councilman. 

*"S.  C.  WELLS,   Councilman.'" 


366  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

'"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  September  12,  1864.  ) 

"'JAMES    M.    CALHOUN,   Mayor,   E.    E.   RAWSON,   and   S.   C. 
WELLS,  representing  City  Council  of  Atlanta. 

'"GENTLEMEN:  I  have  your  letter  of  the  i  ith,  in  the  nature 
of  a  petition  to  revoke  my  orders  removing  all  the  inhabi- 
tants from  Atlanta.  I  have  read  it  carefully,  and  give  full 
credit  to  your  statements  of  the  distress  that  will  be  occa- 
sioned, and  yet  shall  not  revoke  my  orders,  because  they  were 
not  designed  to  meet  the  humanities  of  the  case,  but  to  pre- 
pare for  the  future  struggles  in  which  millions  of  good  people 
outside  of  Atlanta  have  a  deep  interest.  We  must  have 
peace,  not  only  at  Atlanta,  but  in  all  America.  To  secure 
this,  we  must  stop  the  war  that  now  desolates  our  once  happy 
and  favored  country.  To  stop  wai,  we  must  defeat  the  Rebel 
armies  which  are  arrayed  against  the  laws  and  Constitution 
that  all  must  respect  and  obey.  To  defeat  those  armies,  we 
must  prepare  the  way  to  reach  them  in  their  recesses,  pro- 
vided with  the  arms  and  instruments  which  enable  us  to  ac- 
complish our  purpose.  Now,  I  know  the  vindictive  nature  of 
our  enemy,  that  we  may  have  many  years  of  military  opera- 
tions from  this  quarter;  and,  therefore,  deem  it  wise  and 
prudent  to  prepare  in  time.  The  use  of  Atlanta  for  warlike 
purposes  is  inconsistent  with  its  character  as  a  home  for  fam- 
ilies. There  will  be  no  manufactures,  commerce,  or  agricult- 
ure here,  for  the  maintenance  of  families,  and  sooner  or  later 
want  will  compel  the  inhabitants  to  go.  Why  not  go  now, 
when  all  the  arrangements  are  completed  for  the  transfer,  in- 
stead of  waiting  till  the  plunging  shot  of  contending  armies 
will  renew  the  scenes  of  the  past  month?  Of  course,  I  do  not 
apprehend  any  such  thing  at  this  moment,  but  you  do  not 
suppose  this  army  will  be  here  until  the  war  is  over.  I  can- 
not discuss  this  subject  with  you  fairly,  because  I  cannot  im- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  367 

part  to  you  what  we  propose  to  do,  but  I  assert  that  our  mil- 
itary plans  make  it  necessary  for  the  inhabitants  to  go  away, 
and  I  can  only  renew  my  offer  of  services  to  make  their  exo- 
dus in  any  direction  as  easy  and  comfortable  as  possible. 

"'You  cannot  qualify  war  in  harsher  terms  than  I  will.  War 
is  cruelty,  and  you  cannot  refine  it;  and  those  who  brought 
war  into  our  country  deserve  all  the  curses  and  maledictions 
a  people  can  pour  out.  I  know  I  had  no  hand  in  making  this 
war,  and  I  know  I  will  make  more  sacrifices  to-day  than 
any  of  you  to  secure  peace.  But  you  cannot  have  peace  and 
a  division  of  our  country.  If  the  United  States  submits  to  a 
division  now,  it  will  not  stop,  but  will  go  on  until  we  reap 
the  fate  of  Mexico,  which  is  eternal  war.  The  United  States 
does  and  must  assert  its  authority,  wherever  it  once  had  pow- 
er; for,  if  it  relaxes  one  bit  to  pressure,  it  is  gone,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  such  is  the  national  feeling.  This  feeling  assumes 
various  shapes,  but  always  comes  back  to  that  of  Union. 
Once  admit  the  Union,  once  more  acknowledge  the  authority 
of  the  national  Government,  and,  instead  of  devoting  your 
houses  and  streets  and  roads  to  the  dread  uses  of  war,  I  and 
this  arifly  become  at  once  your  protectors  and  supporters, 
shielding  you  from  danger,  let  it  come  from  what  quarter  it 
may.  I  know  that  a  few  individuals  cannot  resist  a  torrent  of 
error  and  passion,  such  as  swept  the  South  into  Rebellion,  but 
you  can  point  out,  so  that  we  may  know  those  who  desire  a 
government,  and  those  who  insist  on  war  and  its  desolation. 

'"You  might  as  well  appeal  against  the  thunder-storm  as 
against  these  terrible  hardships  of  war.  They  are  inevitable, 
and  the  only  way  the  people  of  Atlanta  can  hope  once  more 
to  live  in  peace  and  quiet  at  home  is  to  stop  the  war,  which 
can  only  be  done  by  admitting  that  it  began  in  error  and  is 
perpetuated  in  pride. 

"'We  don't   want  your  negroes,  or  your  horses,   or  your 


368  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

houses,  or  your  lands,  or  anything  you  have,  but  we  do  want 
and  will  have — a  just  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States.  That  we  will  have,  and,  if  it  involves  the  destruction 
of  your  improvements,  we  cannot  help  it. 

"'You  have  heretofore  read  public  sentiment  in  your  news- 
papers, that  live  by  falsehood  and  excitement;  and  the  quicker 
you  seek  for  truth  in  other  quarters,  the  better.  I  repeat, 
then,  that,  by  the  original  compact  of  Government,  the 
United  States  had  certain  rights  in  Georgia,  which  have  never 
been  relinquished  and  never  will  be;  that  the  South  began 
war  by  seizing  forts,  arsenals,  mints,  custom-houses,  etc. , 
etc. ,  long  before  Mr.  Lincoln  was  installed,  and  before  the 
South  had  one  jot  or  tittle  of  provocation.  I  myself  have  seen 
in  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi,  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  women  and  children  fleeing  from  your  armies 
and  desperadoes,  hungry,  and  with  bleeding  feet.  In  Mem- 
phis, Vicksburg,  and  Mississippi,  we  fed  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  the  families  of  Rebel  soldiers  left  on  our  hands, 
and  whom  we  could  not  see  starve.  Now  that  war  comes 
home  to  you,  you  feel  very  different.  You  deprecate  its 
horrors,  but  did  not  feel  them  when  you  sent  car-loads  of 
soldiers,  and  ammunition,  and  molded  shells  and  shot,  to 
carry  war  into  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  to  desolate  the 
homes  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  good  people  who  only 
asked  to  live  in  peace  at  their  old  homes,  and  under  the  Gov- 
ernment of  their  inheritance.  But  these  comparisons  are 
idle.  I  want  peace,  and  believe  it  can  only  be  reached 
through  Union  and  war,  and  I  will  ever  conduct  war  with  a 
view  to  perfect  and  early  success. 

"'But,  my  dear  sirs,  when  peace  does  come,  you  may  call 
on  me  for  anything.  Then  will  I  share  with  you  the  last 
cracker,  and  watch  with  you  to  shield  your  homes  and 
families  against  danger  from  every  quarter. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  369 

"'Now  you  must  go,  and  take  with  you  the  old  and  feeble, 
feed  and  nurse  them,  and  build  for  them,  in  more  quiet 
places,  proper  habitations  to  shield  them  against  the  weather 
until  the  mad  passions  of  men  cool  down,  and  allow  the 
Union  and  peace  once  more  to  settle  over  your  old  homes  at 
Atlanta.  Yours  in  haste,  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

"'Major-General  commanding.'" 
i 

"'HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  September  14,  1864.  j 

"' General}.  B.  HOOD,  commanding  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
Confederate  Army. 

"'GENERAL:  Yours  of  September  I2th  is  received,  and  has 
been  carefully  perused.  I  agree  with  you  that  this  discussion 
by  two  soldiers  is  out  of  place,  and  profitless;  but  you  must 
admit  that  you  began  the  controversy  by  characterizing  an 
offiical  act  of  mine  in  unfair  and  improper  terms.  I  reiterate 
my  former  answer,  and  to  the  only  new  matter  contained  in 
your  rejoinder  add:  We  have  no  "negro  allies"  in  this  army; 
not  a  single  negro  soldier  left  Chattanooga  with  this  army,  or 
is  with  it  now.  There  are  a  few  guarding  Chattanooga, 
which  General  Steedman  sent  at  one  time  to  drive  Wheeler 
out  of  Dalton. 

"'I  was  not  bound  by  the  laws  of  war  to  give  notice  of  tne 
shelling  of  Atlanta,  a  "fortified  town,  with  magazines,  arse- 
nals, foundries,  and  public  stores;"  you  were  bound  to  take 
notice.  See  the  books. 

"'This  is  the  conclusion  of  our  correspondence,  which  I  did 
not  begin,  and  terminate  with  satisfaction.  I  am,  with  re- 
spect, your  obedient  servant,  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

"'Major-General  commanding.'" 


37°  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"'HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY,  ) 
WASHINGTON,  September  28,  1864.  j 

"'Major-General  SHERMAN,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 

"'GENERAL:  Your  communications  of  the  2Oth  in  regard  to 
the  removal  of  families  from  Atlanta,  and  the  exchange  of 
prisoners,  and  also  the  official  report  of  your  campaign,  are 
just  received.  I  have  not  had  time  as  yet  to  examine  your 
report.  The  course  which  you  have  pursued  in  removing 
Rebel  families  from  Atlanta,  and  in  the  exchange  of  prisoners, 
is  fully  approved  by  the  War  Department.  Not  only  are  you 
justified  by  the  laws  and  usages  of  war  in  removing  these  peo- 
ple, but  I  think  it  was  your  duty  to  your  own  army  to  do  so. 
Moreover,  I  am  fully  of  opinion  that  the  nature  of  your  posi- 
tion, the  character  of  the  war,  the  conduct  of  the  enemy— 
and  especially  of  non-combatants  and  women  of  the  territory 
which  we  have  heretofore  conquered  and  occupied — will  jus- 
tify you  in  gathering  up  all  the  forage  and  provisions  which 
your  army  may  require,  both  for  a  siege  of  Atlanta  and  for 
your  supply  in  your  march  farther  into  the  enemy's  country. 
Let  the  disloyal  families  of  the  country,  thus  stripped,  go  to 
their  husbands,  fathers,  and  natural  protectors,  in  the  Rebel 
ranks;  we  have  tried  three  years  of  conciliation  and  kindness 
without  any  reciprocation;  on  the  contrary,  those  thus  treated 
have  acted  as  spies  and  guerrillas  in  our  rear  and  within  our 
lines.  The  safety  of  our  armies,  and  a  proper  regard  for  the 
lives  of  our  soldiers,  require  that  we  apply  to  our  inexorable 
foes  the  severe  rules  of  war.  We  certainly  are  not  required 
to  treat  the  so-called  non-combatant  Rebels  better  than  they 
themselves  treat  each  other.  Even  here  in  Virginia,  within 
fifty  miles  of  Washington,  they  strip  their  own  families  of 
provisions,  leaving  them,  as  our  army  advances,  to  be  fed  by 
us,  or  to  starve  within  our  lines.  We  have  fed  this  class  of 
people  long  enough.  Let  them  go  with  their  husbands  and 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  3/1 

fathers  in  the  Rebel  ranks;  and  if  they  won't  go,  we  must  send 
them  to  their  friends  and  natural  protectors.  I  would  destroy 
every  mill  and  factory  within  reach  which  I  did  not  want  for 
my  own  use.  This  the  Rebels  have  done,  not  only  in  Mary- 
land and  Pennsylvania,  but  also  in  Virginia  and  other  Rebel 
States,  when  compelled  to  fall  back  before  our  armies.  In 
many  sections  of  the  country  they  have  not  left  a  mill  to 
grind  grain  for  their  own  suffering  families,  lest  we  might  use 
them  to  supply  our  armies.  We  must  do  the  same. 

'"I  have  endeavored  to  impress  these  views  upon  our  co^- 
manders  for  the  last  two  years.  You  are  almost  the  only  one 
who  has  properly  applied  them.  I  do  not  approve  of  Gen- 
eral Hunter's  course  in  burning  private  houses  or  uselessly 
destroying  private  property.  That  is  barbarous.  But  I  ap- 
prove of  taking  or  destroying  whatever  may  serve  as  supplies 
to  us  or  to  the  enemy's  army. 

'"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"'H.  W.  HALLECK,  Major-General,  Chief  of  Staff.'" 

Atlanta  was  in  the  hands  of  Sherman.  It  had  been  taken 
as  the  result  of  a  grand  campaign,  during  which  the  com- 
mander had  revealed  to  his  men  more  of  his  character  as  a 
soldier  than  they  had  known  before.  In  moving  an  army 
into  the  enemy's  country  it  had  been  necessary  for  officers 
and  men  to  limit  their  impedimenta  to  the  smallest  possible 
burden.  In  this  General  Sherman  had  followed  the  instruc- 
tions he  had  given  and  there  were  many  division  and  corps 
commanders  who  had  far  more  luxurious  headquarters  than 
the  general  at  the  head  of  the  army. 

Even  the  great  advance  thus  made  was  not  without  its 
terrible  losses.  The  death  of  McPherson  had  occurred  at  a 
time  when  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  even  speak  of  it.  After 
the  fall  of  Atlanta  it  was  the  constant  habit  of  officers  ana 


372  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

men  to  sit  around  their  camp-fires  and  recount  former  experi- 
ences with  the  dead  comrade.  If  all  citizens  could  under- 
stand what  satisfaction  there  was  in  these  camp  talks  they 
would  understand  better  why  we  perpetuate  the  custom  now, 
when  years  have  passed  and  the  stories  must  of  necessity  be 
worn  threadbare.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  ex- 
perience of  an  army  like  ours  is  practically  limitless,  and  also 
that  some  of  the  stories  bear  repeating.  I  remember  two 
told  by  an  Iowa  general  which  I  have  heard  repeated  around 
many  a  camp-fire,  always  with  the  prefacing  remark,  "I  can 
only  give  you  the  incidents;  nobody  can  tell  the  story  like 
General  Trumbull." 

While  McPherson  was  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  General  Trumbull  had  a  command  of  a  division. 
Among  them  was  a  jovial  fellow  who  was  the  life  of  the  camp 
with  his  songs,  stories  and  ever  ready  wit.  He  was  from  the 
Faderland,  bearing  the  name  as  I  remember  it,  of  Fritz 
Reiser.  At  the  battle  of  the  Hatchie,  Fritz  got  in  the  way 
of  a  cannon-ball  and  was  obliged  to  have  his  leg  amputated. 
He  was  carried  to  the  hospital  and  bore  the  operation  with- 
out a  murmur,  though  keeping  up  a  constant  gibe  at  the 
fellows  who  fired  the  gun.  One  day,  while  Fritz  was  in  the 
hospital,  General  McPherson  came  along  and  asked  to  be 
shown  through  the  wards.  The  general  was  understood  to 
be  a  pretty  strong  democrat,  though  he  was  doing  his  best 
to  demonstrate  that  the  war  for  the  suppression  of  the  Re- 
bellion had  not  been  a  failure.  As  the  general  came  along 
the  wards,  guided  by  General  Trumbull,  he  would  ask  the 
name  of  the  patients,  and  had  a  pleasant  word  for  all.  Fritz 
had  recovered  so  far  as  to  be  as  full  of  his  jokes  as  usual,  and 
when  General  McPherson  came  to  his  cot  and  asked  in  what 
battle  he  had  been  wounded,  he  looked  up  with  a  quaint 
smile  and  said: 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  373 

"O,  General,  I  met  the  democratic  party  the  other  day 
and  they  shot  my  leg  off." 

The  general  joined  in  the  laugh,  remarking  to  his  guide 
that  it  was  on  him.  Just  as  the  officers  were  leaving  the 
ward,  Fritz  called  out: 

"Say,  General,  where  is  that  democratic  party  now?  Give 
'em  my  love — and  my  leg,  too,  if  they  want  it  to  run  away 
with." 

Another  of  the  stories  connected  with  that  campaign  cov- 
ered a  time  when  the  soldiers  had  been  forced  to  stay  in  camp 
with  little  to  excite  them.  They  suffered  from  camp  fever 
somewhat,  but  more  from  that  dreaded  homesickness,  which 
Trumbull  used  to  say  killed  more  soldiers  than  bullets.  The 
general  commanding  the  post  was  a  careful  officer,  and  one 
day  issued  an  order  that  the  troops  should  be  encouraged  in 
manly  diversions  to  take  their  minds  off  from  the  prevailing 
sickness.  Early  one  morning  after  the  receipt  of  the  order, 
General  Trumbull  rode  over  to  the  headquarters  of  the  major 
who  was  then  in  command  of  Trumbull's  old  regiment, 
and  asked  an  orderly  to  call  him  out.  The  major  came, 
and  after  the  usaal  salute  the  following  conversation  en- 
sued: 

"Major,  have  you  received  new  orders  to-day?" 

"Yes,  General,  I  have  the  orders  commanding  officers  to 
encourage  manly  diversions  among  the  troops." 

"Well,  sir,  you  will  report  at  my  tent  with  the  adjutant  of 
your  regiment  at  half  past  seven  to-night,  and  we  will  en- 
courage a  little  game  of  draw." 

The  major  tells  another  part  of  the  story  which  the  gen- 
eral has  entirely  forgotten.  The  major  says  that  one  time 
that  night  he  raised  the  general  ten  dollars  when  he  sus- 
pected he  had  been  bluffing. 

"Oh,"  said  the  general,  "that's  gambling.      We  don't  do 


374  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

that;  that's  barred.      Just  a   little  raise  of   a  quarter  .or  so  is 
sufficiently  'manly'  to  cover  the  orders." 

Of  course  the  major  was  forced  to  comply,  but  very  soon 
was  astonished  to  be  raised  out  of  his  boots  by  the  general, 
whose  pleasant  face  was  wreathed  with  a  sort  of  ace-full 
smile. 

"But,"  said  the  major,  "I  thought  you  didn't  want  us  to 
bet  so  high,  General." 

.  "Well,"   quietly  remarked  the  general,  "I  didn't  then,  but 
I  feel  a  little  more  manly  now." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FROM  ATLANTA  TO  THE  SEA — PRELIMINARY  OPERATIONS. 

General  Sherman  was  a  soldier  of  too  great  experience  and 
sagacity  to  suppose  that  he  was  to  remain  long  in  idleness 
in  the  midst  of  the  enemy's  country  and  occupying  one  of 
his  most  important  cities.  He  had  not  fully  determined 
whether  he  would  hold  Atlanta  as  a  military  post  or  move  to 
another  position.  Nor  had  it  developed  whether  it  would  be 
better  to  co-operate  with  the  army  south  or  north  of  his 
present  position.  Jeff  Davis'  insane  jealousy  of  Johnston 
made  it  impossible  to  follow  out  the  plans  which  had  been 
made  by  that  general,  and  the  Confederate  authorities  were 
forced  to  utilize  the  rashness  of  Hood  to  maintain  their 
assumed  position  regarding  military  operations.  But  the 
folly  of  Davis  was  of  value  to  Sherman  as  he  revealed  his 
full  designs  in  order  to  fire  the  hearts  of  his  supporters. 

By  the  middle  of  September,  General  Sherman  had  his 
forces  well  prepared  for  active  operations.  Hood  had  been 
also  making  preparations,  and  a  battle  was  imminent.  It 
was  Sherman's  desire  to  do  all  possible  toward  breaking  the 
force  of  the  unity  of  feeling  in  Georgia.  He  had  learned 
from  the  people  that  the  vice  president  of  the  Confederacy 
was  at  heart  a  Union  man,  and  knew  he  must  have  many 
friends  in  Georgia.  Crops  were  ready  for  gathering,  and  the 
people  were  naturally  anxious  to  have  their  friends  at  home 
to  do  work  absolutely  necessary.  General  Sherman's  man- 
ner of  treating  the  Georgians  is  well  worth  careful  attention. 

375 


376  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

"One  day  two  citizens,  Messrs.  Hill  and  Foster,  came  into 
our  lines  at  Decatur,  and  were  sent  to  my  headquarters. 
They  represented  themselves  as  former  members  of  Congress, 
and  particular  friends  of  my  brother,  John  Sherman;  that 
Mr.  Hill  had  a  son  killed  in  the  Rebel  army  as  it  fell  back  be- 
fore us  somewhere  near  Cassville,  and  they  wanted  to  obtain 
the  body,  having  learned  from  a  comrade  where  it  was  buried. 
I  gave  them  permission  to  go  by  rail  to  the  rear,  with  a  note 
to  the  commanding  officer,  General  John  E.  Smith,  at  Car- 
tersville,  requiring  him  to  furnish  them  an  escort  and  an  am- 
bulance for  the  purpose.  I  invited  them  to  take  dinner  with 
our  mess,  and  we  naturally  ran  into  a  general  conversation 
about  politics,  and  the  devastation  and  ruin  caused  by  the 
war.  They  had  seen  a  part  of  the  country  over  which  the 
army  had  passed,  and  could  easily  apply  its  measure  of  deso- 
lation to  the  remainder  of  the  State,  if  necessity  should  com- 
pel us  to  go  ahead. 

"Mr.  Hill  resided  at  Madison,  on  the  main  road  to  Augusta, 
and  seemed  to  realize  fully  the  danger;  said  that  further  re- 
sistance on  the  part  of  the  South  was  madness,  that  he  hoped 
Governor  Brown,  of  Georgia,  would  so  proclaim  it,  and  with- 
draw his  people  from  the  Rebellion,  in  pursuance  of  what  was 
known  as  the  policy  of  'separate  State  action.'  I  told  him 
if  he  saw  Governor  Brown,  to  describe  to  him  fully  what  he 
had  seen,  and  to  say  that  if  he  remained  inert,  I  would  be 
compelled  to  go  ahead  devastating  the  State  in  its  whole 
length  and  breadth;  that  there  was  no  adequate  force  to  stop 
us,  etc. ;  but  if  he  would  issue  his  proclamation  withdrawing 
his  State  troops  from  the  armies  of  the  Confederacy,  I  would 
spare  the  State,  and  in  our  passage  across  it  confine  the 
troops  to  the  main  roads,  and  would,  moreover,  pay  for  all 
the  corn  and  food  we  needed.  I  also  told  Mr.  Hill  .that  he 
might,  in  my  name,  invite  Governor  Brown  to  visit  Atlanta; 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  377 

that  I  would  give  him  a  safeguard,  and  that  if  he  wanted 
to  make  a  speech,  I  would  guarantee  him  as  full  and  respect- 
able an  audience  as  any  he  had  ever  spoken  to.  I  believe 
that  Mr.  Hill,  after  reaching  his  home  at  Madison,  went  to 
Milledgeville,  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  delivered  the  mes- 
sage to  Governor  Brown.  I  had  also  sent  similar  messages 
by  Judge  Wright,  of  Rome,  Georgia,  and  by  Mr.  King,  of 
Marietta.  On  the  i  5th  of  September  I  telegraphed  to  Gen- 
eral Halleck  as  follows: 

lu  My  report  is  done,  and  will  be  forwarded  as  soon  as  I 
get  a  tew  more  of  the  subordinate  reports.  I  am  awaiting 
a  courier  from  General  Grant.  All  well;  the  troops  are  in 
good,  healthy  camps,  and  supplies  are  coming  forward  finely. 
Governor  Brown  ha?  disbanded  his  militia,  to  gather  the 
corn  and  sorghum  of  the  State.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that 
he  and  Stephens  want  to  visit  me,  and  have  sent  them  a 
hearty  invitation.  I  will  exchange  two  thousand  prisoners 
with  Hood,  but  no  more. ' 

"Governor  Brown's  action  at  that  time  is  fully  explained 
by  the  following  letter,  since  made  public,  which  was  then 
only  known  to  us  in  part  by  hearsay: 

'"EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
MILLEDGEVILLE,   GA.  ,  September  10,  1864.  ) 

"* General].  B.  HOOD,  commanding  Army  of  Tennessee. 

"'GENERAL:  As  the  militia  of  the  State  were  called  out 
for  the  defense  of  Atlanta  during  the  campaign  against  it, 
which  has  terminated  by  the  fall  of  the  city  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,  and  as  many  of  these  left  their  homes  without 
preparation,  expecting  to  be  gone  but  a  few  weeks,  who 
have  remained  in  service  over  three  months,  most  of  the 
time  in  the  trenches,  justice  requires  that  they  be  permitted, 
while  the  enemy  is  preparing  for  the  winter  campaign,  to 


3/8  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

return  to  their  homes,  and  look  for  a  time  after  important 
interests,  and  prepare  themselves  for  such  service  as  may  be 
required  when  another  campaign  commences  against  other 
important  points  in  the  State.  I  therefore  hereby  withdraw 
said  organization  from  your  command. 

"'JOSEPH  C.  BROWN.'" 

"This  militia  had  composed  a  division  under  command  of 
Major-General  Gustavus  W.  Smith,  and  were  thus  dispersed 
to  their  homes,  to  gather  the  corn  and  sorghum,  then  ripe 
and  ready  for  the  harvesters. 

"On  the  1 7th  I  received  by  telegraph  from  President  Lin- 
coln this  dispatch: 

"' WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  17,  1864 — 10  a.M. 
"'Major-General  SHERMAN: 

"'I  feel  great  interest  in  the  subjects  of  your  dispatch,  men- 
tioning corn  and  sorghum,  and  the  contemplated  visit  to  you. 

"'A.  LINCOLN, 
"'President  of  the  United  States.'" 

"I  replied  at  once: 

"'HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  September  17,  1864.  f 

Ui President  LINCOLN,  Washintgon,  D.  C. 

"'I  will  keep  the  department  fully  advised  of  all  develop- 
ments connected  with  the  subject  in  which  you  feel  inter- 
ested. 

"'Mr.  Wright,  former  member  of  Congress  from  Rome, 
Georgia,  and  Mr.  King,  of  Marietta,  are  now  going  between 
Governor  Brown  and  myself.  I  have  said  to  them  that  some 
of  the  people  of  Georgia  are  engaged  in  Rebellion,  begun  in 
error  and  perpetuated  in  pride,  but  that  Georgia  can  now  save 
herself  from  the  devastations  of  war  preparing  for  her,  only 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  379 

by  withdrawing  her  quota  out  of  the  Confederate  Army,  and 
aiding  me  to  expel  Hood  from  the  borders  of  the  State;  in 
which  event,  instead  of  desolating  the  land  as  we  progress,  I 
will  keep  our  men  to  the  high-roads  and  commons,  and  pay 
for  the  corn  and  meat  we  need  and  take. 

iul  am  fully  conscious  of  the  delicate  nature  of  such  asser- 
tions, but  it  would  be  a  magnificent  stroke  of  policy  if  we 
could,  without  surrendering  principle  or  a  foot  of  ground, 
arouse  the  latent  enmity  of  Georgia  against  Davis. 

'"The  people  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  Mr.  Stephens  was 
and  is  a  Union  man  at  heart;  and  they  say  that  Davis  will 
not  trust  him  or  let  him  have  a  share  in  his  government. 

"*W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General.'" 

"I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  Governor  Brown,  at  that 
time,  seriously  entertained  the  proposition;  but  he  hardly 
felt  ready  to  act,  and  simply  gave  a  furlough  to  the  militia, 
and  called  a  special  session  of  th  Legislature,  to  meet  at 
Milledgeville,  to  take  into  consideration  the  critical  condition 
of  affairs  in  the  State. 

"On  the  2Oth  of  September  Colonel  Horace  Porter  arrived 
from  General  Grant,  at  City  Point,  bringing  me  the  letter  of 
September  I2th,  asking  my  general  views  as  to  what  should 
next  be  done.  He  staid  several  days  at  Atlanta,  and  on  his 
return  carried  back  to  Washington  my  full  reports  of  the 
past  campaign,  and  my  letter  of  September  2Oth  to  General 
Grant  in  answer  to  his  of  the  I2th. 

"About  this  time  we  detected  signs  of  activity  on  the  part 
of  the  enemy.  On  the  2ist  Hood  shifted  his  army  across 
from  the  Macon  road,  at  Lovejoy's,  to  the  West  Point  road, 
at  Palmetto  Station,  and  his  cavalry  appeared  on  the  west 
side  of  Chattahoochee,  toward  Powder  Springs;  thus,  as  it 
were,  stepping  aside,  and  opening  wide  the  door  for  us  to  en- 


380  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

ter  Central  Georgia.  I  inferred,  however,  that  his  real  pur- 
pose was  to  assume  the  offensive  against  our  railroads,  and 
on  the  24th  a  heavy  force  of  cavalry  from  Mississippi,  under 
General  Forrest,  made  its  appearance  at  Athens,  Alabama, 
and  captured  its  garrison.  , 

"General  Newton's  division  (of  the  Fourth  Corps)  and 
Corse's  (of  the  Seventeenth)  were  sent  back  by  rail,  the  for- 
mer to  Chattanooga,  and  the  latter  to  Rome.  'On  the  25th  I 
telegraphed  to  General  Halleck: 

"'Hood  seems  to  be  moving,  as  it  were,  to  the  Alabama 
line,  leaving  open  the  road  to  Macon,  as  also  to  Augusta;  but 
his  cavalry  is  busy  on  all  our  roads.  A  force,  number  esti- 
mated as  high  as  eight  thousand,  are  reported  to  have  capt- 
ured Athens,  Alabama;  and  a  regiment  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  men  sent  to  its  relief.  I  have  sent  Newton's  division 
up  to  Chattanooga  in  cars,  and  will  send  another  division  to 
Rome.  If  I  were  sure  that  Savannah  wrould  soon  b2  in  our 
possession,  I  should  be  tempted  to  march  for  Milledgeville 
and  Augusta;  but  I  must  first  secure  what  I  have.  Jeff. 
Davis  is  at  Macon.  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major  General.'" 

"On  the  next  day  I  telegraphed  further  that  Jeff.  Davis  was 
with  Hood  at  Palmetto  Station.  One  of  our  spies  was  there 
at  the  time,  who  came  in  the  next  night,  and  reported  to  me 
the  substance  of  his  speech  to  the  soldiers.  It  was  a  repeti- 
tion of  those  he  had  made  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  and 
Macon,  Georgia,  on  his  way  out,  which  I  had  seen  in  the 
newspapers.  Davis  seemed  to  be  perfectly  upset  by  the  fall 
of  Atlanta,  and  to  have  lost  all  sense  and  reason.  He  de- 
nounced General  Jos.  Johnston  and  Governor  Brown  as  little 
better  than  traitors;  attributed  to  them  personally  the  many 
misfortunes  which  had  befallen  their  cause,  and  informed  the 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  381 

soldiers  that  now  the  tables  were  to  be  turned;  that  General 
Forrest  was  already  on  our  roads  in  Middle  Tennessee;  and 
that  Hood's  army  would  soon  be  there.  He  asserted  that 
the  Yankee  army  would  have  to  retreat  or  starve,  and  that  the 
retreat  would  prove  more  disastrous  than  was  that  of  Napo- 
leon from  Moscow.  He  promised  his  Tennessee  and  Ken- 
tucky soldiers  that  their  feet  should  soon  tread  their  'native 
soil,'  etc.,  etc.  He  made  no  concealment  of  these  vainglori- 
ous boasts,  and  thus  gave  us  the  full  key  to  his  future  de- 
signs. To  be  forewarned  was  to  be  forearmed,  and  I  think 
we  took  full  advantage  of  the  occasion. 
"On  the  26th  I  received  this  dispatch: 

'" CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  September  26,  1864 — 10  A.  M. 
"'Major-General  SHERMAN,  Atlanta. 

"'It  will  be  better  to  drive  Forrest  out  of  Middle  Tennessee 
as  a  first  step,  and  do  anything  else  you  may  feel  your  force 
sufficient  for.  When  a  movement  is  made  on  any  part  of  the 
sea-coast,  I  will  advise  you.  If  Hood  goes  to  the  Alabama 
line,  will  it  not  be  impossible  for  him  to  subsist  his  army? 
'"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General.' 

"Answer: 

"'HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  September  26,    1864.  \ 

'"GENERAL:  I  have  your  dispatch  of  to-day.  I  have  already 
sent  one  division  (Newton's)  to  Chattanooga,  and  another 
(Corse's)  to  Rome. 

'"Our  armies  are  much  reduced,  and  if  I  send  back  any 
more,  I  will  not  be  able  to  threaten  Georgia  much.  There  are 
men  enough  to  the  rear  to  whip  Forrest,  but  they  are  neces- 
sarily scattered  to  defend  the  roads. 

"'Can  you  expedite  the  sending  to  Nashville  of  the  recruits 


382  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

that  are  in  Indiana  and  Ohio?     They  could  occupy  the  forts. 

"'Hood  is  now  on  the  West  Point  road,  twenty-four  miles 
south  of  this,  and  draws  his  supplies  by  that  road.  Jefferson 
Davis  is  there  to-day,  and  superhuman  efforts  will  be  made 
to  break  my  road. 

"'  Forrest  is  now  lieutenant-general,  and  commands  all  the 
enemy's  cavalry. 

"'W.  T.    SHERMAN,  Major-General.' 

"General  Grant  first  thought  I  was  in  error  in  supposing 
that  Jeff.  Davis  was  at  Macon  and  Palmetto,  but  on  the  27th 
I  received  a  printed  copy  of  his  speech  made  at  Macon  on 
the  22d,  which  was  so  significant  that  I  ordered  it  to  be 
telegraphed  entire  as  far  as  Louisville,  to  be  sent  thence  by 
mail  to  Washington,  and  on  the  same  day  received  this  dis- 
patch: 

"'  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  27,  1864 — 9  A.  M. 

"''Major-General  SHERMAN,  Atlanta. 

'"You  say  Jeff.  Davis  is  on  a  visit  to  General  Hood.  I  judge 
that  Brown  and  Stephens  are  the  objects  of  his  visit. 

"'A.    LINCOLN,  President  of  the  United  States.' 

"To  which  I  replied: 

"'HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  September  28,  1864.  j 

"'•President  LINCOLN,  Washington,  D.  C. 

'"I  have  positive  knowledge  that  Mr.  Davis  made  a  speech 
at  Macon,  on  the  22d,  which  I  mailed  to  General  Halleck 
yesterday.  It  was  bitter  against  General  Jos.  Johntson  and 
Governor  Brown.  The  militia  are  on  furlough.  Brown  is 
at  Milledgeville,  trying  to  get  a  Legislature  to  meet  next 
month,  but  he  is  afraid  to  act  unless  in  concert  with  other 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  383 

Governors.  Judge  Wright,  of  Rome,  has  been  here,  and 
Messrs.  Hill  and  Nelson,  former  members  of  Congress,  are 
here  now,  and  will  go  to  meet  Wright  at  Rome,  and  then  go 
back  to  Madison  and  Milledgeville. 

"'Great  efforts  are  being  made  to  reinforce  Hood's  army, 
and  to  break  up  my  railroads,  and  I  should  have  at  once  a 
good  reserve  force  at  Nashville.  It  would  have  a  bad  effect, 
if  I  were  forced  to  send  back  any  considerable  part  of  my 
army  to  guard  roads,  so  as  to  weaken  me  to  an  extent  that 
I  could  not  act  offensively  if  the  occasion  calls  for  it. 

<UW.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General'" 

General  Sherman  was  anxious  to  render  some  relief  to  the 
Union  prisoners  confined  at  Andersonville.  Reports  had 
been  brought  to  camp  of  the  terrible  condition  there,  and 
it  was  hard  to  keep  the  men  from  serious  revenge,  so  bitterly 
did  they  resent  the  treatment  of  their  comrades  by  the  Con- 
federacy. General  Sherman  corresponded  with  General 
Hood,  and  received  ready  acceptance  of  his  offer  to  furnish 
supplies  for  the  prisoners.  They  were  asked  for  from  the 
Sanitary  Commission  at  St.  Louis,  but  did  not  reach  the  men 
till  after  they  had  been  transferred  to  Jacksonville. 

Towards  the  last  of  September  General  Grant  became 
convinced  that  an  attack  was  to  be  made  all  along  our  lines 
for  the  purpose  of  driving  Sherman  out  of  Georgia.  He  tele- 
graphed his  expectations  to  Sherman,  and  was  urged  to  fur- 
nish as  many  troops  as  possible  in  order  that  what  had  been 
gained  might  be  held  and  further  advance  made.  Early  in 
October  the  intentions  of  the  enemy  were  plain,  and  General 
Sherman  prepared  to  receive  them  when  their  attack  was 
made  with  such  force  as  would  make  their  defeat  certain. 

The  army  had  undergone  changes  since  the  capture  of 
Atlanta.  General  Schofield  had  gone  to  the  rear,  leaving 


384  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

General  J.  D.  Cox  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
(Twenty-third  Corps).  General  Thomas  had  been  sent  to 
Chattanooga,  with  Newton's  division  of  the  Fourth  Corps  and 
Morgan's  ^of  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  leaving  General  D.  S. 
Stanley,  remaining  and  available  for  this  movement,  and 
after  General  Dodge  was  wounded,  his  corps  (the  Sixteenth) 
had  been  broken  up,  and  its  two  divisions  were  added  to  the 
Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps,  constituting  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee,  commanded  by  Major-General  O.  O.  How- 
ard. Generals  Logan  and  Blair  had  gone  home  to  assist  in 
the  political  canvass,  leaving  their  corps,  viz.,  the  Fifteenth 
and  Seventeenth,  under  the  command  of  Major-Generals 
Osterhaus  and  T.  E.  G.  Ransom.  These  five  corps  were 
very  much  reduced  in  strength,  by  detachments  and  by 
discharges,  so  that  for  the  purpose  of  fighting  Hood  there 
was  only  about  sixty  thousand  infantry  and  artillery,  with 
two  small  divisions  of  cavalry  (Kilpatrick's  and  Garrard's). 
General  Elliot  was  the  chief  of  cavalry  to  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  and  was  the  senior  officer  of  that  arm  of  service 
present  for  duty. 

We  had  railroad  guards  at  all  places  of  importance  be- 
tween Marietta,  Ringgold,  and  Chattanooga.  All  the  impor- 
tant bridges  were  protected  by  block-houses,  and  capable  of 
defense  against  cavalry  or  infantry;  and  at  nearly  all  the 
regular  railroad-stations  we  had  smaller  detachments  in- 
trenched. There  was  little  fear  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  dam- 
aging our  roads  seriously,  for  they  rarely  made  a  break  which 
could  not  be  repaired  in  a  few  days;  but  it  was  necessary  to 
keep  General  Hood's  infantry  off  the  main  route  of  communi- 
cation. Forrest  had  with  him  in  Middle  Tennessee  eight 
thousand  cavalry,  and  Hood's  army  was  stated  at  from 
thirty-five  to  forty  thousand  men,  infantry  and  artillery,  in- 
cluding Wheeler's  cavalry,  then  about  three  thousand  strong. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  385 

We  crossed  the  Chattahoochee  River  during  the  3d  and 
4th  of  October,  rendezvoused  at  the  old  battle-field  of  Smyrna 
Camp,  and  the  next  day  reached  Marietta  and  Kenesaw. 
The  telegraph-wires  had  been  cut  above  Marietta,  and  it  was 
inferred  that  Allatoona  was  their  objective  point;  and  on  the 
4th  of  October  from  Vining's  Station  to  Kenesaw,  and  from 
Kenesaw  to  Allatoona,  over  the  heads  of  the  enemy,  a  mes- 
sage was  signaled  for  General  Corse,  at  Rome,  to  hurry  back 
to  the  assistance  of  the  garrison  at  Allatoona. 

From  the  heights  of  Kenesaw,  General  Sherman  gazed 
anxiously  toward  Allatoona.  He  knew  General  Corse,  and 
believed  if  he  were  there  the  place  would  be  defended. 
Late  in  the  evening  of  October  5th  the  signal  officer  at  Kene- 
saw reported  that  he  had  just  had  a  signal  that  Corse  was 
there,  and  General  Sherman  dispatched  General  Cox,  with 
the  Twenty-third  Corps  to  his  assistance,  and  the  outcome 
was  watched  with  great  anxiety.  On  the  6th  the  following 
dispatch  was  received  from  General  Corse. 

"I  am  short  a  cheek-bone  and  an  ear,  but  am  able  to  whip 
all  hell  yet;  my  losses  are  very  heavy.  A  force  moving 
from  Stilesboro'  to  Kingston  gives  me  some  anxiety.  Tell 
me  where  Sherman  is. 

"JOHN  M.  CORSE,  Brigadier-General" 

General  Corse's  report  of  this  fight  at  Allatoona  is  full  and 
graphic.  It  is  dated  Rome,  October  27,  1864;  and  says  that 
he  received  his  orders  by  signal  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  Alla- 
toona on  the  4th,  when  he  telegraphed  to  Kingston  for  cars, 
and  a  train  of  thirty  was  started  for  him,  but  ten  of  them 
got  off  the  track  and  caused  delay.  By  7  P.  M.  he  had  at 
Rome  twenty  cars,  which  he  loaded  with  Colonel  Rowett's 
brigade,  and  part  of  the  Twelfth  Illinois  Infantry;  started  at 
8  p.  M.,  reached  Allatoona  at  i  A.  M.  of  the  5th,  and  sent  the 

25 


386  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

train  back  for  more  men;  but  the  road  was  in  bad  order,  and 
no  more  men  came  in  time.  He  found  Colonel  Tourtellotte's 
garrison  composed  of  eight  hundred  and  ninety  men;  his  re- 
inforcement was  one  thousand  and  fifty-four:  total  for  the 
defense,  nineteen  hundred  and  forty-four.  The  outposts 
were  already  engaged,  and  at  daylight  he  drew  back  the 
men  to  the  ridge  on  which  the  redoubts  were  built. 

The  enemy  was  composed  of  French's  division  of  three 
brigades,  reported  from  four  to  five  thousand  strong.  This 
force  surrounded  the  place  by  8  A.  M.,  when  General  French 
sent  in  by  flag  of  truce  this  note: 

"AROUND  ALLATOON A,  October,  5,  1864. 

"COMMANDING   OFFICER,  United  States  Forces,  Allatoona: 

"I  have  placed  the  forces  under  my  command  in  such  po- 
sitions that  you  are  surrounded,  and  to  avoid  a  needless  effu- 
sion of  blood  I  call  on  you  to  surrender  your  forces  at  once, 
and  unconditionally. 

"'Five  minutes  will  be  allowed  you  to  decide.  Should  you 
accede  to  this,  you  will  be  treated  in  the  most  honorable 
manner  as  prisoners  of  war. 

"I    have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully  yours, 

"S.  G.  FRENCH, 

"Major- General  commanding  forces  Confederate    States" 

General  Corse  answered  at  once: 

"HEADQUARTERS  FOURTH  DIVISION  FIFTEENTH  CORPS,  ) 
ALLATOONA,  GA.,  8-30  A.  M.,  October  5,  1864.  f 

"Major-General  S.  G.  FRENCH,  Confederate  States,  etc. 

"Your  communication  demanding  surrender  of  my  com- 
mand I  acknowledge  receipt  of,  and  respectfully  reply  that 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  387 

we  are  prepared  for  the  *  needless  effusion  of  blood'  whenever 
it  is  agreeable  to  you. 

"I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"JOHN  M.  CORSE, 
"Brigadier-General  commanding  forces   United  States." 

The  attack  began  immediately  from  front,  flank,  and  rear. 
There  were  two  small  redoubts,  with  parapets  and  ditches, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  railroad-cut.  These  redoubts  had 
been  located  by  Colonel  Poe,  United  States  Engineer,  the 
previous  June.  Each  redoubt  overlooked  the  storehouses  by 
the  railroad,  and  could  aid  the  other  by  catching  in  flank  the 
attacking  force  of  either.  Our  troops  endeavored  to  hold 
some  ground  outside  the  redoubts,  but  were  soon  driven  in- 
side, when  the  enemy  made  assaults,  but  were  always  driven 
back.  About  n  A.  M.,  Colonel  Redfield,  of  the  Thirty- 
ninth  Iowa,  was  killed,  and  Colonel  Rowett  was  wounded, 
but  never  ceased  to  fight  and  encourage  his  men.  Colonel 
Tourtellotte  was  shot  through  the  hips,  but  continued  to 
command.  General  Corse  was  shot  across  the  face,  the  ball 
cutting  his  ear,  which  stunned  him,  but  he  continued  to  en- 
courage his  men  and  to  give  orders.  The  enemy  (about  i :  30 
p.  M.)  made  a  last  effort  to  carry  one  of  the  redoubts,  but  was 
cut  to  pieces  by  the  artillery  and  infantry  fire  from  the 
other,  when  he  began  to  draw  off,  leaving  his  dead  and 
wounded  on  the  ground. 

"Before  finally  withdrawing,  General  French  converged  a 
heavy  fire  of  his  cannon  on  the  block-house  at  Allatoona 
Creek,  about  two  miles  from  the  depot,  set  it  on  fire,  and 
captured  its  garrison,  consisting  of  four  officers  and  eighty- 
five  men.  By  4  p.  M.  he  was  in  full  retreat  south,  on  the 
Dallas  road,  and  got  by  before  the  head  of  General  Cox's 
column  had  reached  it;  still  several  ambulances  and  strag- 


388  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

glers  were  picked  up  by  this  command  on  that  road.  General 
Corse  reported  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  Rebel  dead,  four 
hundred  and  eleven  prisoners,  three  regimental  colors,  and 
eight  hundred  muskets  captured." 

General  Sherman  esteemed  this  defense  of  Allatoona  so 
handsome  and  important  that  it  was  made  the  subject  of  a 
general  order,  viz.,  No.  86,  of  October  7,  1864: 

"The  general  commanding  avails  himself  of  the  oppor- 
tunity, in  the  handsome  defense  made  of  Allatoona,  to  illus- 
trate the  most  important  principle  in  war,  that  fortified  posts 
should  be  defended  to  the  last,  regardless  of  the  relative  num- 
bers of  the  party  attacking  and  attacked.  The  thanks  of  this 
army  are  due  and  are  hereby  accorded  to  General  Corse, 
Colonel  Tourtellotte,  Colonel  Rowett,  officers,  and  men,  for 
their  determined  and  gallant  defense  of  Allatoona,  and  it  is 
made  an  example  to  illustrate  the  importance  of  preparing 
in  time,  and  meeting  the  danger  when  present,  boldly,  and 
manfully,  and  well. 

"Commanders  and  garrisons  of  the  posts  along  our  railroad 
are  hereby  instructed  that  they  must  hold  their  posts  to  the 
last  minute,  sure  that  the  time  gained  is  valuable  and  neces- 
sary to  their  comrades  at  the  front. 

"By  order  of  Major-General  W.  T.  Sherman. 

"L.  M.  DAYTON,  Aid-de-camp." 

General  Sherman  confused  the  enemy  by  the  rapidity  of  his 
movements,  and  his  own  troops  were  proportionately  en- 
thusiastic. We  could  see  daily  progress  toward  the  comple- 
tion of  our  task.  In  the  midst  of  war  the  thought  of  peace 
was  gloriously  exciting.  Seated  around  camp-fires,  with  an  al- 
most certainty  of  a  bitter  fight  on  the  morrow,  soldiers  would 
talk  of  conquering,  of  peace,  and  of  the  happiness  of  their 
return  home  as  if  bullets  were  made  of  love  letters,  and  can- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  389 

non-balls  of  pudding.  The  situation  on  the  Qth  of  October 
is  stated  in  the  following  dispatches,  the  first  to  General 
Thomas  at  Nashville,  the  second  to  Grant  at  City  Point, 
Virginia. 

"I  came  up  here  to  relieve  our  road.  The  Twentieth  Corps 
remains  at  Atlanta.  Hood  reached  the  road  and  broke  it  up 
between  Big  Shanty  and  Acworth.  He  attacked  Allatoona, 
but  was  repulsed.  We  have  plenty  of  bread  and  meat,  but 
forage  is  scarce.  I  want  to  destroy  all  the  road  below  Chat- 
tanooga, including  Atlanta,  and  to  make  for  the  sea-coast. 
We  cannot  defend  this  long  line  of  road." 

"To  GENERAL  GRANT: 

"It  will  be  a  physical  impossibility  to  protect  the  roads, 
aow  that  Hood,  Forrest,  Wheeler,  and  the  whole  batch  of 
devils,  are  turned  loose  without  home  or  habitation.  I  think 
Hood's  movements  indicate  a  diversion  to  the  end  of  the  Sel- 
ma  &  Talladega  road,  at  Blue  Mountain,  about  sixty  miles 
southwest  of  Rome,  from  which  he  will  threaten  Kingston, 
Bridgeport,  and  Decatur,  Alabama.  I  propose  that  we 
break  up  the  railroad  from  Chattanooga  forward,  and  that  we 
strike  out  with  our  wagons  for  Milledgeville,  Millen,  and  Sa- 
vannah. Until  we  can  repopulate  Georgia,  it  is  useless  for 
us  to  occupy  it;  but  the  utter  destruction  of  its  roads,  houses, 
and  people,  will  cripple  their  military  resources.  By  attempt- 
ing to  hold  the  roads,  we  will  lose  a  thousand  men  each 
month,  and  will  gain  no  result.  I  can  make  this  march  and 
make  Georgia  howl!  We  have  on  hand  over  eight  thousand 
head  of  cattle  and  three  million  rations  of  bread,  but  no  corn. 
We  can  find  plenty  of  forage  in  the  interior  of  the  State." 

General  Forrest  with  his  Rebel  cavalry  was  making  much 
trouble  and  materially  aiding  General  Hood  in  keeping  up 
the  fight  on  the  main  army.  Both  these  Confederates  were 


39O  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

doing  all  the  damage  possible  by  burning  railroads,  bridges 
and  even  supplies  when  they  were  unable  to  prevent  the  lat- 
ter from  falling  into  our  hands.  Hood  made  an  attack  on 
Colonel  Clark  B.  Weaver  at  Resaca  and  sent  to  the  garrison 
the  following  communication,  calling  for  an  unconditional 
surrender: 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  TENNESSEE,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  October  12,  1864.  ) 

"  To  the  Officer  commanding  the  United  States  Forces  at  Re- 
saca, Georgia. 

"Sm:  I  demand  the  immediate  and  unconditional  surrender 
of  the  post  and  garrison  under  your  command,  and,  should 
this  be  acceded  to,  all  white  officers  and  soldiers  will  be  pa- 
rolled  in  a  few  days.  If  the  place  is  carried  by  assault,  no 
prisoners  will  be  taken. 

"Most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"J.  B.  HOOD,  General." 

To  this  Colonel  Weaver,  in  command  replied: 

"HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  THIRD  DIVISION,    ) 
FIFTEENTH  CORPS,  RESACA,  GA.,  October  12,  1864.  ) 

"70  General  J.  B.  HOOD: 

"Your  communication  of  this  date  just  received.  In  reply, 
I  have  to  state  that  I  am  somewhat  surprised  at  the  conclud- 
ing paragraph,  to  the  effect  that,  if  the  place  is  carried  by 
assault,  no  prisoners  will  be  taken.  In  rny  opinion  I  can 
hold  this  post.  If  you  want  it,  come  and  take  it. 

"I  am,  general,  very  respectfully,  your  most  obedient 
servant,  CLARK  R.  WEAVER,  Commanding  Officer" 

General  Hood  did  not  "come  and  take  it,"  but  made  that 
battle  entirely  on  paper,  saving  himself  much  trouble. 

Toward  the  last  of   October  General  Sherman  received  a 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  39 1 

dispatch  from  General  Halleck  intimating  that  the  authorities 
at  Washington  were  willing  to  allow  him  to  undertake  the 
march  to  the  sea.  That  other  generals  were  afraid  of  the 
undertaking  is  seen  by  the  following  correspondence  between 
Sherman  and  Thomas: 

"Send  me  Morgan's  and  Newton's  old  divisions.  Re-estab- 
lish the  road,  and  I  will  follow  Hood  wherever  he  may  go. 
I  think  he  will  move  to  Blue  Mountain.  We  can  maintain 
our  men  and  animals  on  the  country." 

General  Thomas'  reply  was: 

"NASHVILLE,  October  17,  1864 — 10.30  A.  M. 
"Major-General  SHERMAN: 

"Your  dispatch  from  Ship's  Gap,  5  p.  M.  of  the  i6th,  just 
received.  Schofield,  whom  I  placed  in  command  of  the  two 
divisions,  Wagner's  and  Morgan's,  was  to  move  up  Lookout 
Valley  this  A.  M. ,  to  intercept  Hood,  should  he  be  marching 
for  Bridgeport.  I  will  order  him  to  join  you  with  the  two 
divisions,  and  will  reconstruct  the  road  as  soon  as  possible. 
Will  also  reorganize  the  guards  for  posts  and  block-houses. 
Mower  and  Wilson  have  arrived,  and  are  on  their  way  to 
join  you.  I  hope  you  will  adopt  Grant's  idea  of  turning  Wil- 
son loose,  rather  than  undertake  the  plan  of  a  march  with 
the  whole  force  through  Georgia  to  the  sea,  inasmuch  as 
General  Grant  cannot  co-operate  with  you  as  at  first  arranged. 
"GEORGE  H.  THOMAS,  Major-General''1 

So  it  is  clear  that  at  that  date  neither  General  Grant  nor 
General  Thomas  heartily  favored  the  proposed  plan  of  cam- 
paign. On  the  same  day,  Sherman  wrote  to  General  Scho- 
field at  Chattanooga: 

"Hood  is  not  at  Dear  Head  Cove.  We  occupy  Ship's 
Gap  and  Lafayette.  Hood  is  moving  south  via  Summerville, 


392  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

Alpine,  and  Gadsden.  If  he  enters  Tennessee,  it  will  be  to 
the  west  of  Huntsville,  but  I  think  he  has  given  up  all  such 
idea.  I  want  the  road  repaired  to  Atlanta;  the  sick  and 
wounded  men  sent  north  of  the  Tennessee;  my  army  recom- 
posed;  and  I  will  then  make  the  interior  of  Georgia  feel  the 
weight  of  war.  It  is  folly  for  us  to  be  moving  our  armies  on 
the  reports  of  scouts  and  citizens.  We  must  maintain  the 
offensive.  Your  first  move  on  Trenton  and  Valley  Head 
was  right — the  move  to  defend  Caperton's  Ferry  is  wrong. 
Notify  General  Thomas  of  these  my  views.  We  must  follow 
Hood  till  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of  mischief,  and  then  re- 
sume the  offensive." 

After  striking  our  road  at  Dalton,  Hood  was  compelled  to 
go  on  to  Chattanooga  and  Bridgeport,  or  to  pass  around  by 
Decatur  and  abandon  altogether  his  attempt  to  make  Sherman 
let  go  his  hold  of  Atlanta  by  attacking  our  communications. 
It  was  clear  he  had  no  intention  to  meet  us  in  open  battle, 
and  the  lightness  and  celerity  of  his  army  proved  we  could 
not  possibly  catch  him  on  a  stern-chase.  We  therefore 
quietly  followed  him  down  the  Chattanooga  Valley  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Gadsden. 

General  Slocum,  in  Atlanta,  had  likewise  sent  out,  under 
strong  escort,  large  trains  of  wagons  to  the  east  and  brought 
back  corn,  bacon,  and  all  kinds  of  provisions,  so  that  Hood's 
efforts  to  cut  off  our  supplies  only  reacted  on  his  own  people. 
So  long  as  the  railroads  were  in  good  order,  our  supplies 
came  full  and  regular  from  the  North;  but  when  the  enemy 
broke  our  railroads  we  were  justified  in  stripping  the  inhabit- 
ants of  all  they  had. 

On  the  i  Qth  of  October  Sherman  telegraphed  to  General 
Halleck,  at  Washington: 

"Hood  has  retreated  rapidly  by  all  the  roads  leading  south. 
Our  advance  columns  are  now  at  Alpine  and  Melville  Post- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  393 

office.  I  shall  pursue  him  as  far  as  Gaylesville.  The  enemy 
will  not  venture  toward  Tennessee  except  around  by  Decatur. 
I  propose  to  send  the  Fourth  Corps  back  to  General  Thomas, 
and  leave  him,  with  that  corps,  the  garrisons,  and  new 
troops,  to  defend  the  line  of  the  Tennessee  River;  and  with 
the  rest  I  will  push  into  the  heart  of  Georgia  and  come  out 
at  Savannah,  destroying  all  the  railroads  of  the  State.  The 
break  in  our  railroad  at  Big  Shanty  is  almost  repaired,  and 
that  about  Dalton  should  be  done  in  ten  days.  We  find 
abundance  of  forage  in  the  country." 

On  the  same  day  he  telegraphed  to  General  L.  C.  Easton, 
chief-quartermaster,  who  had  been  absent  on  a  visit  to  Mis- 
souri, but  had  got  back  to  Chattanooga: 

"Go  in  person  to  superintend  the  repairs  of  the  railroad, 
and  make  all  orders  in  my  name  that  will  expedite  its  com- 
pletion. I  want  it  finished,  to  bring  back  from  Atlanta  to 
Chattanooga  the  sick  and  wounded  men  and  surplus  stores. 
On  the  ist  of  November  I  want  nothing  in  front  of  Chatta- 
nooga except  what  we  can  use  as  food  and  clothing,  and  haul 
in  our  wagons.  There  is  plenty  of  corn  in  the  country,  and 
we  only  want  forage  for  the  posts.  I  allow  ten  days  for  all  this 
to  be  done  by  which  time  I  expect  to  be  at  or  near  Atlanta." 

He  also  telegraphed  General  Amos  Beckwith,  chief-com- 
missary in  Atlanta: 

"Hood  will  escape  me.  I  want  to  prepare  for  my  big 
raid.  On  the  ist  of  November  I  want  nothing  in  Atlanta 
but  what  is  necessary  for  war.  Send  all  trash  to  the  rear  at 
once,  and  have  on  hand  thirty  days'  food  and  but  little  for- 
age. I  propose  to  abandon  Atlanta,  and  the  railroad  back 
to  Chattanooga,  to  sally  forth  to  ruin  Georgia  and  bring  up 
on  the  sea-shore.  Make  all  dispositions  accordingly.  I  will 
go  down  the  Coosa  until  I  am  sure  that  Hood  has  gone  to 
Blue  Mountain." 


394  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

On  the  2  ist  of  October  we  reached  Gaylesville,  bivouacked 
in  an  open  field  back  of  the  village,  and  remained  there  till 
the  28th. 

General  Grant,  in  designating  General  Wilson  to  com- 
mand the  cavalry,  predicted  that  he  would,  by  his  personal 
activity,  increase  the  effect  of  that  arm  "fifty  per  cent.,"  and 
he  advised  that  he  should  be  sent  south,  to  accomplish  all 
proposed  to  be  done  with  the  main  army,  but  Sherman  had 
not  so  much  faith  in  cavalry,  and  preferred  to  adhere  to  his 
original  intention  of  going  with  a  competent  force. 

About  this  time  General  Beauregard  had  reached  Hood's 
army  at  Gadsden.  Without  assuming  direct  command  of 
that  army,  he  had  authority  from  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment to  direct  its  movements,  and  to  call  to  his  assistance 
the  whole  strength  of  the  South.  His  orders,  on  assuming 
command,  were  full  of  alarm  and  desperation,  dated — 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  WEST,  ) 

October  17,  1864.  f 

"In  assuming  command,  at  this  critical  juncture,  of  the 
Military  Division  of  the  West,  I  appeal  to  my  countrymen, 
of  all  classes  and  sections,  for  their  generous  support.  In 
assigning  me  to  this  responsible  position,  the  President  of  the 
Confederate  States  has  extended  to  me  the  assurance  of  his 
earnest  support.  The  Executives  of  your  States  meet  me 
with  similar  expressions  of  their  devotion  to  our  cause.  The 
noble  army  in  the  field,  composed  of  brave  men  and  gallant 
officers,  are  strangers  to  me,  but  I  know  they  will  do  all  that 
patriots  can  achieve. 

"The  army  of  Sherman  still  defiantly  holds  Atlanta.  He 
can  and  must  be  driven  from  it.  It  is  only  for  the  good  peo- 
ple of  Georgia  and  surrounding  States  to  speak  the  word, 
and  the  work  is  done.  We  have  abundant  provisions.  There 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  395 

are  men  enough  in  the  country,  liable  to  and  able  for  service, 
to  accomplish  the  result. 

"My  countrymen,  respond  to  this  call  as  you  have  done  in 
days  that  are  past,  and,  with  the  blessing  of  a  kind  and 
overruling  Providence,  the  enemy  shall  be  driven  from  your 
soil.  The  security  of  your  wives  and  daughters  from  the  in- 
sults and  outrages  of  a  brutal  foe  shall  be  established  soon, 
and  be  followed  by  a  permanent  and  honorable  peace.  The 
claims  of  home  and  country,  wife  and  children,  uniting  with 
the  demands  of  honor  and  patriotism,  summon  us  to  the  field. 
We  can  not,  dare  not,  will  not  fail  to  respond.  Full  of  hope 
and  confidence,  I  come  to  join  you  in  your  struggles,  sharing 
your  privations,  and,  with  your  brave  and  true  men,  to  strike 
the  blow  that  shall  bring  success  to  our  arms,  triumph  to  our 
cause,  and  peace  to  our  country!  *  *  *  * 

"G.  T.  BEAUREGARD,  General" 

General  Beauregard  made  his  fight  also  on  paper,  and 
saved  his  precious  life  that  he  might  engage  in  other  opera- 
tions more  profitable  than  fighting  General  Sherman.  But 
Generals  Hood  and  Forrest  were  doing  all  the  good  possible 
to  their  cause  by  roaming  through  the  country  and  terrifying 
the  people  of  the  North  by  giving  the  reliable  correspondents 
opportunity  of  supplying  much  reading  matter  of  an  exciting 
character  to  their  papers.  During  October  it  was  apparent 
that  the  people  of  the  North  had  become  alarmed,  and  it 
was  predicted  that  General  Sherman  would  be  gobbled  by 
that  terrible  thing,  "the  Rebel  cavalry."  November  ist  Gen- 
eral Sherman  telegraphed  the  situation  to  Grant  and  received 
the  following  reply: 

"CiTY  POINT,  November  i,  1864—6  P.  M. 
"Major-General  SHERMAN: 

"Do  you  not  think  it  advisable,  now  that   Hood  has  gone 


396  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

so  far  north,  to  entirely  ruin  him  before  starting  on  your  pro- 
posed campaign?  With  Hood's  army  destroyed,  you  can  go 
where  you  please  with  impunity.  I  believed,  and  still  be- 
lieve, if  you  had  started  south  while  Hood  was  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  you,  he  would  have  been  forced  to  go  after  you. 
Now  that  he  is  far  a.way  he  might  look  upon  the  chase  as 
useless,  and  he  will  go  in  one  direction  while  you  are  pushing 
in  the  other.  If  you  can  see  a  chance  of  destroying  Hood's 
army,  attend  to  that  first,  and  make  your  other  move  sec- 
ondary. "U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General" 

"ROME,  GEORGIA,  November  2,  1864. 
"Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  GRANT,  City  Point,  Virginia. 

"Your  dispatch  is  received.  If  I  could  hope  to  overhaul 
Hood,  I  would  turn  against  him  with  my  whole  force;  then 
he  would  retreat  to  the  southwest,  drawing  me  as  a  decoy 
away  from  Georgia,  which  is  his  chief  object.,  If  he  ventures 
north  of  the  Tennessee  River,  I  may  turn  in  that  direction, 
and  endeavor  to  get  below  him  on  his  line  of  retreat;  but 
thus  far  he  has  not  gone  above  the  Tennessee  River.  Gen- 
eral Thomas  will  have  a  force  strong  enough  to  prevent  his 
reaching  any  country  in  which  we  .have  an  interest;  and  he 
has  orders,  if  Hood  turns  to  follow  me,  to  push  for  Selma, 
Alabama.  No  single  army  can  catch  Hood,  and  I  am  con- 
vinced the  best  results  will  follow  from  our  defeating  Jeff 
Davis'  cherished  plan  of  making  me  leave  Georgia  by  ma- 
neuvering. Thus  far  I  have  confined  my  efforts  to  thwart 
this  plan,  and  have  reduced  baggage  so  that  I  can  pick  up 
and  start  in  any  direction;  but  I  regard  the  pursuit  of  Hood 
as  useless.  Still,  if  he  attempts  to  invade  Middle  Tennessee, 
I  will  hold  Decatur,  and  be  prepared  to  move  in  that  direc- 
tion; but,  unless  I  let  go  of  Atlanta,  my  force  will  not  be 
equal  to  his.  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN.  397 

i3y  this  date,  under  the  energetic  action  of  Colonel  W.  W. 
Wright,  the  railroad  break  of  fifteen  miles  about  Dalton  was 
repaired  so  far  as  to  admit  of  the  passage  of  cars,  and  Sher- 
man transferred  his  headquarters  to  Kingston  as  more  central; 
and  from  that  place,  on  the  same  day,  again  telegraphed  to 
General  Grant: 

"KINGSTON,  GEORGIA,  November  2,  1864. 
Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  GRANT,  City  Point,  Virginia. 

"If  I  turn  back,  the  whole  effect  of  my  campaign  will  be 
lost.  By  my  movements  I  have  thrown  Beauregard  (Hood) 
well  to  the  west,  and  Thomas  will  have  ample  time  and  suffi- 
cient troops  to  hold  him  until  the  reinforcements  from  Mis- 
souri reach  him.  We  have  now  ample  supplies  at  Chatta- 
nooga and  Atlanta,  and  can  stand  a  month's  interruption  to 
our  communications.  I  do  not  believe  the  Confederate  army 
can  reach  our  railroad  lines  except  by  cavalry  raids,  and  Wil- 
son will  have  cavalry  enough  to  checkmate  them.  I  am 
clearly  of  opinion  that  the  best  results  will  follow  my  contem- 
plated movement  through  Georgia. 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 

That  same  day  he  received  the  following  in  answer  to  the 
Rome  dispatch: 

"CiTY  POINT,  VA.,  November  2,  1864—11.30  A.  M. 

"Major-General  SHERMAN:  Your  dispatch  of  9  A.  M.  yes- 
terday is  just  received.  I  dispatched  you  the  same  date,  ad- 
vising that  Hood's  army,  now  that  it  had  worked  so  far  north, 
ought  to  be  looked  upon  now  as  the 'object.'  With  the 
force,  however,  that  you  have  left  with  General  Thomas,  he 
must  be  able  to  take  care  of  Hood  and  destroy  him. 

"I  do  not  see  that  you  can  withdraw  from  where    you    are 


398  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

to  follow  Hood,  without  giving  up  all  we  have  gained  in  ter- 
ritory.     I  say,  then,  go  on  as  you  propose. 

"U.  S.  GRANT   Lieutenant-General" 

This  was  the  first  time  that  General  Grant  assented  to  the 
"march  to  the  sea,"  and,  although  many  of  his  warm  friends 
and  admirers  insist  that  he  was  the  author  and  projector  of 
that  march,  General  Grant  never  thought  so  or  said  so. 
The  truth  is  fully  given  in  an  original  letter  of  President  Lin- 
coln, which  Sherman  received  at  Savannah,  Georgia,  every 
word  of  which  is  in  his  own  familiar  handwriting.  It  is 
dated— 

"WASHINGTON,  December  26,  1864. 

"When  you  were  about  leaving  Atlanta  for  the  Atlantic 
coast,  I  was  anxious  if  not  fearful;  but,  feeling  that  you  were 
the  better  judge,  and  remembering  'nothing  risked,  nothing 
gained, '  I  did  not  interfere.  Now,  the  undertaking  being  a 
success,  the  honor  is  all  yours;  for  I  believe  none  of  us  went 
further  than  to  acquiesce;  and,  taking  the  work  of  General 
Thomas  into  account,  as  it  should  be  taken,  it  is  indeed  a 
great  success.  -Not  only  does  it  afford  the  obvious  and  im- 
mediate military  advantages,  but  in  showing  to  the  world 
that  your  army  could  be  divided,  putting  the  stronger  part  to 
an  important  new  service,  and  yet  leaving  enough  to  vanquish 
the  old  opposing  force  of  the  whole,  Hood's  army,  it  brings 
those  who  sat  in  darkness  to  see  a  great  light.  But  what 
next?  I  suppose  it  will  be  safer  if  I  leave  General  Grant  and 
yourself  to  decide.  A.  LINCOLN." 

Says  Sherman  himself: 

"Of  course,  this  judgment,  made  after  the  event,  was  ex- 
tremely flattering,  and  was  all  I  ever  expected,  a  recognition 
of  the  truth  and  of  its  importance.  I  have  often  been  asked, 
by  well-meaning  friends,  when  the  thought  of  that  march  first 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  399 

entered  my  mind.  I  knew  that  an  army  which  had  pene- 
trated Georgia  as  far  as  Atlanta  could  not  turn  back.  It  must 
go  ahead,  but  when,  how,  and  where,  depended  on  many 
considerations.  As  soon  as  Hood  had  shifted  across  from 
Lovejoy's  to  Palmetto,  I  saw  the  move  in  my  'mind's  eye;' 
and,  after  Jeff.  Davis'  speech  at  Palmetto,  of  September  26th, 
I  was  more  positive  in  my  conviction,  but  was  in  doubt  as  to 
the  time  and  manner.  When  General  Hood  first  struck  our 
railroad  above  Marietta,  we  were  not  ready,  and  I  was  forced 
to  watch  his  movements  further,  till  he  had  'carromed'  off  to 
the  west  of  Decatur.  Then  I  was  perfectly  convinced,  and 
had  no  longer  a  shadow  of  doubt.  The  only  possible  ques- 
tion was  as  to  Thomas'  strength  and  ability  to  meet  Hood 
in  the  open  field.  I  did  not  suppose  that  General  Hood, 
though  rash,  would  venture  to  attack  fortified  places  like 
Allatoona,  Resaca,  Decatur,  and  Nashville;  but  he  did  so, 
and  in  so  doing  he  played  into  our  hands  perfectly. 

"On  the  6th  of  November,  at  Kingston,  I  wrote  and  tele- 
graphed to  General  Grant,  reviewing  the  whole  situation, 
gave  him  my  full  plan  of  action,  stated  that  I  was  ready  to 
march  as  soon  as  the  election  was  over,  and  appointed  No- 
vember loth  as  the  day  for  starting.  On  the  8th  I  received 
this  dispatch: 

"'CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  November  7,  1864 — 10.30  p.  M. 
111 Major-General  SHERMAN: 

"'Your  dispatch  of  this  evening  received.  I  see  no  present 
reason  for  changing  your  plan.  Should  any  arise,  you  will 
see  it,  or  if  I  do  I  will  inform  you.  I  think  everything  here 
is  favorable  now.  Great  good  fortune  attends  you!  I  believe 
you  will  be  eminently  successful,  and,  at  worst,  can  only  make 
a  march  less  fruitful  of  results  than  hoped  for. 

*"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General* 


4OO  LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"Meantime  trains  of  cars  were  whirling  by,  carrying  to  the 
rear  an  immense  amount  of  stores  which  had  accumulated  at 
Atlanta,  and  at  the  other  stations  along  the  railroad;  and 
General  Steedman  had  come  down  to  Kingston,  to  take 
charge  of  the  final  evacuation  and  withdrawal  of  the  several 
garrisons  below  Chattanooga. 

"On  the  loth  of  November  the  movement  may  be  said  to 
have  fairly  begun.  All  the  troops  designed  for  the  campaign 
were  ordered  to  march  for  Atlanta,  and  General  Corse,  be- 
fore evacuating  his  post  at  Rome,  was  ordered  to  burn  all  the 
mills,  factories,  etc.,  etc.,  that  could  be  useful  to  the  enemy, 
should  he  undertake  to  pursue  us,  or  resume  military  posses- 
sion of  the  country.  This  was  done  on  the  night  of  the  loth, 
and  next  day  Corse  reached  Kingston.  On  the  i  ith  General 
Thomas  and  I  interchanged  full  dispatches.  He  had  heard 
of  the  arrival  of  General  A.  J.  Smith's  two  divisions  at  Padu- 
cah,  which  would  surely  reach  Nashville  much  sooner  than 
General  Hood  could  possibly  do  from  Florence,  so  that  he 
was  perfectly  satisfied  with  his  share  of  the  army. 

"On  the  1 2th,  with  a  full  staff,  I  started  from  Kingston  for 
Atlanta;  and  about  noon  of  that  day  we  reached  Cartersville, 
and  sat  on  the  edge  of  a  porch  to  rest,  when  the  telegraph 
operator,  Mr.  Van  Valkenburg,  or  Eddy,  got  the  wire  down 
from  the  poles  to  his  lap,  in  which  he  held  a  small  pocket  in- 
strument. Calling 'Chattanooga,'  he  received  this  message 
from  General  Thomas,  dated— 

"'NASHVILLE,   November  12,  1864 — 8:30  A.  M. 
"''Major-General  SHERMAN: 

"'Your  dispatch  of  twelve  o'clock  last  night  is  received.  I 
have  no  fears  that  Beauregard  can  do  us  any  harm  now,  and, 
if  he  attempts  to  follow  you,  I  will  follow  him  as  far  as  pos- 
sible. If  he  does  not  follow  you,  I  will  then  thoroughly  or- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  40 1 

ganize  my  troops,  and  believe  I  shall   have  men  enough   to 
ruin  him  unless  he  gets  out  of  the  way  very  rapidly. 

"'The  country  of  Middle  Alabama,  I  learn,  is  teeming  with 
supplies  this  year,  which  will  be  greatly  to  our  advantage.  I 
have  no  additional  news  to  report  from  the  direction  of  Flor- 
ence. 

"'I  am  now  convinced  that  the  greater  part  of  Beauregard's 
army  is  near  Florence  and  Tuscumbia,  and  that  you  will  have 
at  least  a  clear  road  before  you  for  several  days,  and  that 
your  success  will  fully  equal  your  expectations. 

111  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS,  Maj.or  General.' 

"I  answered  simply:  'Dispatch  received — all  right.'  About 
that  instant  of  time,  some  of  our  men  burnt  a  bridge, 
which  severed  the  telegraph-wire,  and  all  communication 
with  the  rear  ceased  thenceforth. 

"As  we  rode  on  toward  Atlanta  that  night,  I  remember  the 
railroad  trains  going  to  the  rear  with  a  furious  speed;  the  en- 
gineers and  the  few  men  about  the  trains  waving  us  an  affec- 
tionate adieu.  It  surely  was  a  strange  event — two  hostile 
armies  marching  in  opposite  directions,  each  in  the  full  belief 
that  it  was  achieving  a  final  and  conclusive  result  in  a  great 
war;  and  I  was  strongly  inspired  with  the  feeling  that  the  move- 
ment on  our  part  was  a  direct  attack  upon  the  Rebel  army 
and  the  Rebel  capital  at  Richmond,  though  a  full  thousand 
miles  of  hostile  country  intervened,  and  that,  for  better  or 
worse,  it  would  end  the  war." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

ON    THE    MARCH. 

On  the  1 2th  of  November  our  army  started  on  a  march, 
having  cut  entirely  all  communication  with  the  rear,  and  re- 
lying upon  our  own  resources  and  what  we  could  find  in  the 
enemy's  country.  Two  days  later  the  entire  army  was  in 
motion,  with  the  intent  of  cutting  its  way  through  to  the  sea. 

The  army  was  divided  into  two  wings,  right  and  left,  com- 
manded as  to  its  two  wings  by  Major  Generals  O.  O.  How- 
ard, and  H.  W.  Slocum. 

"The  right  wing  was  composed  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  Ma- 
jor-General  P.  J.  Osterhaus  commanding,  and  the  Seven- 
teenth Corps,  Major-General  Frank  P.  Blair  commanding. 

"The  left  wing  was  composed  of  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  Ma- 
jor-General Jefferson  C.  Davis  commanding,  and  the  Twen- 
tieth Corps,  Brigadier-General  A.  S.  Williams  commanding. 

"The  Fifteenth  Corps  had  four  divisions,  commanded  by 
Brigadier-Generals  Charles  R.  Woods,  W.  B.  Hazen,  John 
E.  Smith,  and  John  M.  Corse. 

"The  Seventeenth  Corps  had  three  divisions,  commanded  by 
Major-General  J.  A.  Mower,  and  Brigadier-Generals  M.  D. 
Leggett  and  Giles  A.  Smith. 

"The  Fourteenth  Corps  had  three  divisions,  commanded  by 
Brigadier-Generals  W.  P.  Carlin,  James  D.  Morgan,  and  A. 
Baird. 

"The  Twentieth  Corps  had  also  three  divisions,  commanded 
by  Brigadier-Generals  N.  J.  Jackson,  John  W.  Geary,  and 

W.  T.  Ward. 

402 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  403 

"The  cavalry  division  was  held  separate,  subject  to 
my  own  orders.  It  was  commanded  by  Brigadier-General 
Judson  Kilpatrick,  and  was  composed  of  two  brigades,  com- 
manded by  Colonels  Eli  H.  Murray,  of  Kentucky,  and  Smith 
D.  Atkins,  of  Illinois." 

Having  sifted  out  the  sick  and  non-combatants,  the  force 
was  about  55,329  of  infantry;  5,063  of  cavalry;  1,812  of 
artillery,  in  all  62,204,  officers  and  men.  The  General 
Orders  issued  just  before  starting  show  how  carefully  and 
skillfully  the  whole  thing  had  been  planned  and  what  reason 
General  Grant  had  for  his  constant  assertion  that  Sherman 
would  strike  salt  water  somewhere. 

|  SPECIAL  FIELD  ORDERS  NO.  I  1 9.] 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  KINGSTON,  GEORGIA,  November  8,    1884.  \ 

"The  general  commanding  deems  it  proper  at  this  time  to 
inform  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth, 
Seventeenth,  and  Twentieth  Corps,  that  he  has  organized  them 
into  an  army  for  a  special  purpose,  well  known  to  the  War 
Department  and  to  General  Grant.  It  is  sufficient  for  you  to 
know  that  it  involves  a  departure  from  our  present  base,  and 
a  long  and  difficult  march  to  a  new  one.  All  the  chances  of 
war  have  been  considered  and  provided  for,  as  far  as  human 
sagacity  can.  All  he  asks  of  you  is  to  maintain  that  discipline, 
patience,  and  courage,  which  have  characterized  you  in  the 
past;  and  he  hopes,  through  you,  to  strike  a  blow  at  our 
enemy  that  will  have  a  material  effect  in  producing  what  we 
all  so  much  desire,  his  complete  overthrow.  Of  all  things, 
the  most  important  is,  that  the  men,  during  marches  and  in 
camp,  keep  their  places  and  do  not  scatter  about  as  stragglers 
or  foragers,  to  be  picked' up  by  a  hostile  people  in  detail.  It 
is  also  of  the  utmost  importance  that  our  wagons  should  not 


404  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

be  loaded  with   anything   but   provisions    and    ammunition. 

"All  surplus  servants,  non-combatants,  and  refugees,  should 
now  go  to  the  rear,  and  none  should  be  encouraged  to  encum- 
ber us  on  the  march.  At  some  future  time  we  will  be  able  to 
provide  for  the  poor  whites  and  blacks  who  seek  to  escape 
the  bondage  under  which  they  are  now  suffering.  With  these 
few  simple  cautions,  he  hopes  to  lead  you  to  achievements 
equal  in  importance  to  those  of  the  past. 

"By  order  of  Major-General  W.  T.  Sherman, 

"L.  M.  DAYTON,  Aid- de-Camp." 

[SPECIAL  FIELD  ORDERS,  NO.   1 2O.] 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  KINGSTON,  GEORGIA,  November  9,  1864.  j 

"i.  For  the  purpose  of  military  operations,  this  army  is  di- 
vided into  two  wings  viz. : 

"The  right  wing,  Major-General  O.  O.  Howard  command- 
ing, composed  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps;  the 
left  wing,  Major-General  H.  W.  Slocum  commanding,  com- 
posed of  the  Fourteenth  and  Twentieth  Corps. 

"2.  The  habitual  order  of  march  will  be,  wherever  practi- 
cable, by  four  roads,  as  nearly  parallel  as  possible,  and  con- 
verging at  points  hereafter  to  be  indicated  in  orders.  The 
cavalry,  Brigadier-General  Kilpatrick  commanding,  will  re- 
ceive special  orders  from  the  commander-in-chief. 

"3.  There  will  be  no  general  train  of  supplies,  but  each 
corps  will  have  its  ammunition  train  and  provision  train,  dis- 
tributed habitually  as  follows:  Behind  each  regiment  should 
follow  one  wagon  and  one  ambulance;  behind  each  brigade 
should  follow  a  due  proportion  of  ammunition  wagons,  pro- 
vision wagons,  and  ambulances.  In  case  of  danger,  each 
corps  commander  should  change  this  order  of  march,  by  hav- 
ing his  advance  and  rear  brigades  unencumbered  by  wheels. 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  405 

"The  separate  columns  will  start  habitually  at  7  A.  M.,  and 
make  about  fifteen  miles  per  day,  unless  otherwise  fixed  in 
orders. 

"4.  The  army  will  forage  liberally  on  the  country  during  the 
march.  To  this  end,  each  brigade  commander  will  organize 
a  good  and  sufficient  foraging  party,  under  the  command  of 
one  or  more  discreet  officers,  who  will  gather,  near  the  route 
traveled,  corn  or  forage  of  any  kind,  meat  of  any  kind,  vege- 
tables, corn-meal,  or  whatever  is  needed  by  the  command, 
aiming  at  all  times  to  keep  in  the  wagons  at  least  ten  days' 
provisions  for  his  command,  and  three  days'  forage.  Sol- 
diers must  not  enter  the  dwellings  of  the  inhabitants,  or  com- 
mit any  trespass;  but,  during  a  halt  or  camp,  they  may  be 
permitted  to  gather  turnips,  potatoes,  and  other  vegetables, 
and  to  drive  in  stock  in  sight  of  their  camp.  To  regular  for- 
aging parties  must  be  intrusted  the  gathering  of  provisions 
and  forage,  at  any  distance  from  the  road  traveled. 

"5.  To  corps  commanders  alone  is  intrusted  the  power  to 
destroy  mills,  houses,  cotton-gins,  etc. ;  and  for  them  this 
general  principle  is  laid  down:  In  districts  and  neighbor- 
hoods where  the  army  is  unmolested,  no  destruction  of  such 
property  should  be  permitted;  but  should  guerrillas  or  bush- 
whackers molest  our  march,  or  should  the  inhabitants  burn 
bridges,  obstruct  roads,  or  otherwise  manifest  local  hostility, 
then  army  commanders  should  order  and  enforce  a  devasta- 
tion more  or  less  relentless,  acording  to  the  measure  of  such 
hostility. 

"6.  As  for  horses,  mules,  wagons,  etc.,  belonging  to  the  in- 
habitants, the  cavalry  and  artillery  may  appropriate  freely  and 
without  limit;  discriminating,  however,  between  the  rich, 
who  are  usually  hostile,  and  the  poor  and  industrious,  usually 
neutral  or  friendly.  Foraging  parties  may  also  take  mules  or 
horses,  to  replace  the  jaded  animals  of  their  trains,  or  to 


406  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

serve  as  pack-mules  for  the  regiments  or  brigades.  In  all 
foraging,  of  whatever  kind,  the  parties  engaged  will  refrain 
from  abusive  or  threatening  language,  and  may,  where  the 
officer  in  command  thinks  proper,  give  written  certificates  of 
the  facts,  but  no  receipts;  and  they  will  endeavor  to  leave 
with  each  family  a  reasonable  portion  of  their  maintenance. 

"7.  Negroes  who  are  able-bodied  and  can  be  of  service  to 
the  several  columns  may  be  taken  along;  but  each  army  com- 
mander will  bear  in  mind  that  the  question  of  supplies  is  a 
very  important  one,  and  that  his  first  duty  is  to  see  to  those 
who  bear  arms. 

"8.  The  organization,  at  once,  of  a  good  pioneer  battalion 
for  each  army  corps,  composed,  if  possible,  of  negroes,  should 
be  attended  to.  This  battalion  should  follow  the  advance 
guard,  repair  roads  and  double  them  if  possible,  so  that  the 
columns  will  not  be  delayed  after  reaching  bad  places.  Also, 
army  commanders  should  practice  the  habit  of  giving  the 
artillery  and  wagons  the  road,  marching  their  troops  on  one 
side,  and  instruct  their  troops  to  assist  wagons  at  steep  hills 
or  bad  crossings  of  streams. 

"9.  Captain  O.  M.  Poe,  chief  engineer,  will  assign  to  each 
wing  of  the  army  a  pontoon  train,  fully  equipped  and  organ- 
ized; and  the  commanders  thereof  will  see  to  their  being 
properly  protected  at  all  times. 

"By  order  of  Major-General  W.  T.  Sherman, 

"L.  M.  DAYTON,  Aid-de~Camp." 

Cutting  our  bridges  behind  us,  it  was  necessary  to  deceive 
the  enemy  as  to  our  objective  points.  For  this  reason  the 
right  wing  with  the  cavalry  followed  the  railroad  southeast 
toward  Jonesboro',  and  General  Slocum,  with  the  Twentieth 
Corps  led  off  toward  the  east  by  Decatur,  thus  following  di- 
verging roads,  and  apparently  threatening  both  Macon  and 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  407 

Augusta.     The  true  point   was   Milledgeville,    the  capital  of 
Georgia,  and  the  entire  army  was  to  be  there  in  one  week. 

The  army  was  in  prime  marching  order  and  the  boys  swung 
along  singing  patriotic  airs,  and  apparently  bent  on  a  picnic. 
There  permeated  the  army  a  firm  belief  that  we  were  really 
marching  home,  and  whenever  General  Sherman  passed  along 
the  lines  they  would  salute  him  with  some  jolly  expression 
indicative  of  the  universal  feeling.  The  army  passed  through 
Covington  on  the  i6th  and  it  was  both  amusing  and  touching 
in  the  extreme  to  see  the  negroes  crowd  around  General  Sher- 
man and  shout  their  gladness.  General  Sherman  relates  the 
following  incident  occurring  at  Covington: 

"I  remember,  when  riding  around  by  a  by-street  in  Coving- 
ton,  to  avoid  the  crowd  that  followed  the  marching  column 
that  some  one  brought  me  an  invitation  to  dine  with  a  sister 
of  Sam.  Anderson,  who  was  a  cadet  at  West  Point  with  me; 
but  the  messenger  reached  me  after  we  had  passed  the  main 
part  of  the  town.  I  asked  to  be  excused,  and  rode  on  to  a 
place  designated  for  camp,  at  the  crossing  of  the  Ulcofauha- 
chee  River,  about  four  miles  to  the  east  of  the  town.  Here 
we  made  our  bivouac,  and  I  walked  up  to  a  plantation  house 
close  by,  where  were  assembled  many  negroes,  among  them 
an  old,  gray-haired  man,  of  as  fine  a  head  as  I  ever  saw.  I 
asked  him  if  he  undertsood  about  the  war  and  its  progress. 
He  said  he  did;  that  he  had  been  looking  for  the  'angel  of  the 
Lord'  ever  since  he  was  knee-high,  and,  though  we  professed 
to  be  fighting  for  the  Union,  he  supposed  that  slavery  was 
the  cause,  and  that  our  success  was  to  be  his  freedom.  I 
asked  him  if  all  the  negro  slaves  comprehended  this  fact,  and 
he  said  they  surely  did.  I  then  explained  to  him  that  we 
wanted  the  slaves  to  remain  where  they  were,  and  not  to  load 
us  down  with  useless  mouths,  which  would  eat  up  the  food 
needed  for  our  fighting-men;  that  our  success  was  their  as- 


4O8  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

sured  freedom;  that  we  could  receive  a  few  of  their  young, 
hearty  men  as  pioneers;  but  that,  if  they  followed  us  in 
swarms  of  old  and  young,  feeble  and  helpless,  it  would  sim- 
ply load  us  down  and  cripple  us  in  our  great  task.  I  think 
Major  Henry  Hitchcock  was  with  me  on  that  occasion,  and 
made  a  note  of  the  conversation,  and  I  believe  that  old  man 
spread  this  message  to  the  slaves,  which  was  carried  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  to  the  very  end  of  our  journey,  and  that  it 
in  part  saved  us  from  the  great  danger  we  incurred  of  swell- 
ing our  numbers  so  that  famine  would  have  attended  our 
progress.  It  was  at  this  very  plantation  that  a  soldier  passed 
me  with  a  ham  on  his  musket,  a  jug  of  sorghum  molasses 
under  his  arm,  and  a  big  piece  of  honey  in  his  hand,  from 
which  he  was  eating,  and,  catching  my  eye,  he  remarked  sotto 
voce  and  carelessly  to  a  comrade,  'Forage  liberally  on  the 
country, '  quoting  from  my  general  orders.  On  this  occasion, 
as  on  many  others  that  fell  under  my  personal  observation,  I 
reproved  the  man,  explained  that  foraging  must  be  limited  to 
the  regular  parties  properly  detailed,  and  that  all  provisions 
thus  obtained  must  be  delivered  to  the  regular  commissaries, 
to  be  fairly  distributed  to  the  men  who  kept  their  ranks." 

Foraging  was  reduced  to  a  system  by  the  army.  The  for- 
age parties  were  strung  out  so  as  to  serve  as  flankers,  and 
each  officer  of  divisions  and  regiments  adopted  various  ingen- 
ious devices  for  the  collection  of  the  supplies  needed.  They 
were  taken  from  whatever  point  the  men  could  secure  them, 
and  were  packed  in  all  sorts  of  vehicles,  and  in  all  strange 
manner  on  the  backs  of  horses,  mules,  and  even  cows.  These 
gangs  were  called  "Sherman's  bummers,"  and  it  may  well  be 
believed  they  were  the  terror  of  the  residents. 

On  the  morning  of  the  23d  we  reached  Milledgeville,  and 
found  that  the  army  had  kept  its  appointment.  General 
Sherman  told  the  boys  they  had  observed  the  time-table  ex- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  409 

cellently,  and  they  replied  that  they  had  lost  no  meals  in 
consequence.  At  this  point  we  found  the  first  Southern  news- 
papers we  had  seen  since  we  left  Atlanta,  and  they  revealed 
the  state  of  feeling  among  the  people  at  the  outrageous  pro- 
ceedings of  Sherman's  army  in  marching  directly  through 
their  country.  Judging  from  the  tone  of  the  editorials  and 
communications  published  in  these  papers,  it  was  evidently 
the  intention  of  some  sober-minded  and  prudent  Southrons 
to  absolutely  annihilate  the  army,  and  use  the  trappings  for 
harness  to  their  mules  for  another  century.  The  following 
are  a  few  of  the  appeals.  It  will  be  seen  that  some  of  the 
Southern  members  of  Congress  were  as  valiant  as  many  in  the 
North  have  been  since  they  could  fight  Southern  brigadiers  in 
the  safety  of  Washington. 

"CORINTH,  MISSISSIPPI,  November  18 ',  1864.. 
"  To  the  People  of  Georgia : 

"Arise  for  the  defense  of  your  native  soil!  Rally  around 
your  patriotic  Governor  and  gallant  soldiers!  Obstruct  and 
destroy  all  the  roads  in  Sherman's  front,  flank,  and  rear,  and 
his  army  will  soon  starve  in  your  midst.  Be  confident.  Be 
resolute.  Trust  in  an  overruling  Providence,  and  success  will 
crown  your  efforts.  I  hasten  to  join  you  in  the  defense 
of  your  homes  and  firesides. 

"G.  T.  BEAUREGARD." 

"RICHMOND,  November  18,  1864. 
"To  the  People  of  Georgia: 

"You  have  now  the  best  opportunity  ever  yet  presented  to 
destroy  the  enemy.  Put  everything  at  the  disposal  of  our 
generals;  remove  all  provisions  from  the  path  of  the  invader, 
and  put  all  obstructions  in  his  path. 

"Every  citizen  with  his  gun,  and  every  negro  with  his  spade 


410  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

and  ax  can  do  the  work  of   a   soldier.     You  can   destroy  the 
enemy  by  retarding  his  march. 

"Georgians,  be  firm!     Act  promptly,  and  fear  not! 

"B.    H.  HILL,    Senator." 
"I  most  cordially  approve  the  above. 

"JAMES  A.  SEDDON,  Secretary  of  War." 

"RICHMOND,  November,  ip  1864. 
"  To  the  People  of  Georgia : 

"We  have  had  a  special  conference  with  President  Davis  and 
the  Secretary  of  War,  and  are  able  to  assure  you  that  they 
have  done  and  are  still  doing  all  that  can  be  done  to  meet 
the  emergency  that  presses  upon  you.  Let  every  man  fly  to 
arms!  Remove  your  negroes,  horses,  cattle,  and  provisions 
from  Sherman's  army,  and  burn  what  you  cannot  carry. 
Burn  all  bridges,  and  block  up  the  roads  in  his  route.  Assail 
the  invader  in  front,  flank,  and  rear,  by  night  and  by  day. 
Let  him  have  no  rest. 

"JULIAN  HARTRIDGE,         MARK  BLAUFORD, 
"J.  H.  REYNOLDS,  General  N.   LESTER. 

"JOHN  T.  SHOEMAKER,       JOSEPH  M.  SMITH, 
"Members  of  Congress" 

How  much  these  appeals  disturbed  our  army  may  be  un- 
derstood by  the  frolics  they  enjoyed  at  the  capital  of  Georgia. 
One  night  the  boys  got  together  at  the  State  House  and  or- 
ganized a  full  legislature  and  voted  to  repeal  the  act  by  which 
Georgia  was  taken  out  of  the  Union.  When  the  declaration 
of  the  vote  was  taken  I  could  not  help  feeling  that  it  was  far 
more  in  accordance  with  the  real  sentiment  of  the  people  of 
Georgia  than  was  that  other  vote  forced  on  them  by  the  fire- 
eaters,  who  had  nothing  to  lose  and  all  to  gain  by  their 
course. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  411 

From  Milledgeville  we  were  to  proceed  to  Savannah,  the 
army  being  divided  as  before,  and  one  portion  having  the 
pleasant  task  of  going  by  way  of  Millen  to  release  our  prison- 
ers held  there  by  the  enemy.  We  encountered  the  Rebel  Gen- 
eral Wheeler  with  his  cavalry,  but  they  were  not  in  sufficient 
force  to  make  any  serious  trouble.  General  Hardee  had  also 
been  sent  to  his  native  State  to  fire  the  hearts  of  the  people 
against  us,  but  either  his  tinder  was  defective,  or  the  hearts 
rather  damp,  for  his  mission  was  not  a  success.  On  the  26th 
we  reached  Sandersville,  and  here  a  brigade  of  Rebel  cavalry 
revealed  their  intention  of  burning  all  the  supplies  in  our 
line,  so  that  we  should  have  no  food  to  sustain  our  army. 
General  Sherman  promptly  gave  orders  to  burn  the  houses, 
and  when  he  entered  the  town  he  told  the  people  that  if  the 
plan  of  burning  as  indicated  that  day  were  carried  out  he 
would  not  leave  a  house  standing  in  the  State.  This  was 
the  means  of  changing  the  plans  of  the  Rebels,  who  saw  that 
we  had  the  power  to  execute  the  threat.  Those  who  have 
believed  that  no  wrong  was  committed  except  by  Sherman's 
army  may  read  the  following  incident,  which  to  my  personal 
recollection  did  make  the  General  "mad"  as  he  found  it  out. 

"On  the  8th,  as  I  rode  along,  I  found  the  column  turned  out 
of  the  main  road,  marching  through  the  fields.  Close  by,  in 
the  corner  of  a  fence,  was  a  group  of  men  standing  around  a 
handsome  young  officer,  whose  foot  had  been  blown  to  pieces 
by  a  torpedo  planted  in  the  road.  He  was  waiting  for  a  sur- 
geon to  amputate  his  leg,  and  told  me  that  he  was  riding 
along  with  the  rest  of  his  brigade  staff  of  the  Seventeenth 
Corps,  when  a  torpedo  trodden  on  by  his  horse  had  exploded, 
killing  the  horse  and  literally  blowing  off  all  the  flesh  from 
one  of  his  legs.  I  saw  the  terrible  wound,  and  made  full  in- 
quiry into  the  facts.  There  had  been  no  resistance  at  that 
point,  nothing  to  give  warning  of  danger,  and  the  Rebels  had 


412  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

planted  eight-inch  shells  in  the  road,  with  friction  matches 
to  explode  them  by  being  trodden  on.  This  was  not  war, 
but  murder,  and  it  made  me  very  angry.  I  immediately  or- 
dered a  lot  of  Rebel  prisoners  to  be  brought  from  the  provost- 
guard,  armed  with  picks  and  spades,  and  made  them  march 
in  close  order  along  the  road,  so  as  to  explode  their  own  tor- 
pedoes, or  to  discover  and  dig  them  up.  They  begged  hard, 
but  I  reiterated  the  order,  and  could  hardly  help  laughing  at 
their  stepping  so  gingerly  along  the  road,  where  it  was  sup- 
posed sunken  torpedoes  might  explode  at  each  step,  but  they 
found  no  other  torpedoes  till  near  Fort  McAllister." 

By  the  loth  of  December  the  army  had  completely  invested 
Savannah.  General  Sherman  discovered  that  the  defenses  of 
the  city  were  commanded  by  General  Hardee,  and  deter- 
mined to  try  to  open  communication  with  our  fleet,  supposed 
to  be  in  Ossabaw  Sound  with  supplies  of  clothing  for  us. 
General  Sherman's  story  of  the  closing  scenes  of  this  part  of 
our  tramp  will  recall  pleasant  memories  to  those  who  watched 
the  operations  of  the  army  from  near  the  rice  mill  where  we 
first  really  saw  that  we  had  reached  the  sea,  in  a  manner 
effective. 

"Having  seen  General  Hazen  fairly  off,  accompanied  by 
General  Howard,  I  rode  with  my  staff  down  the  left  bank  of 
the  Ogeechee,  ten  miles  to  the  rice  plantation  of  a  Mr. 
Cheeves,  where  General  Howard  had  established  a  signal-sta- 
tion to  overlook  the  lower  river,  and  to  watch  for  any  vessel  of 
the  blockading  squadron,  which  the  negroes  reported  to  be 
expecting  us,  because  they  nightly  sent  up  rockets,  and  daily 
dispatched  a  steamboat  up  the  Ogeechee  as  near  to  Fort 
McAllister  as- it  was  safe. 

"On  reaching  the  rice-mill  at  Cheeves',  I  found  a  guard  and 
a  couple  of  twenty-pound  Parrot  gums,  of  De  Gres'  battery, 
which  fired  an  occasional  shot  toward  Fort  McAllister,  plainly 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  413 

seen  over  the  salt  marsh,  about  three  miles  distant.  Fort 
McAllister  had  the  Rebel  flag  flying,  and  occasionally  sent  a 
heavy  shot  back  across  the  marsh  to  where  we  were,  but 
otherwise  everything  about  the  place  looked  as  peaceable  and 
quiet  as  on  the  Sabbath. 

"The  signal  officer  had  built  a  platform  on  the  ridge-pole  of 
the  rice-mill.  Leaving  our  horses  behind  the  stacks  of  rice- 
straw,  we  all  got  on  the  roof  of  a  shed  attached  to  the  mill, 
wherefrom  I  could  communicate  with  the  signal  officer  above, 
and  at  the  same  time  look  out  toward  Ossabaw  Sound,  and 
across  the  Ogeechee  River  at  Fort  McAllister.  About  2  p.  M. 
we  observed  signs  of  commotion  in  the  fort,  and  noticed  one 
or  two  guns  fired  inland,  and  some  musket  skirmishing  in  the 
woods  close  by. 

"This  betokened  the  approach  of  Hazen's  division,  which 
had  been  anxiously  expected,  and  soon  thereafter  the  signal 
officer  discovered  about  three  miles  above  the  fort  a  signal 
flag,  with  which  he  conversed,  and  found  it  to  belong  to  Gen- 
eral Hazen,  who  was  preparing  to  assault  the  fort,  and  want- 
ed to  know  if  I  was  there.  On  being  assured  of  this  fact,  and 
that  I  expected  the  fort  to  be  carried  before  night,  I  received 
by  signal  the  assurance  of  General  Hazen  that  he  was  mak- 
ing his  preparations,  and  would  soon  attempt  the  assault. 
The  sun  was  rapidly  declining,  and  I  was  dreadfully  impa- 
tient. At  that  very  moment  some  one  discovered  a  faint 
cloud  of  smoke,  and  an  object  gliding,  as  it  were,  along  the 
horizon  above  the  tops  of  the  sedge  toward  the  sea,  which 
little  by  little  grew  till  it  was  pronounced  to  be  the  smoke- 
stack of  a  steamer  coming  up  the  river.  'It  must  be  one  of 
our  squadron!'  Soon  the  flag  of  the  United  States  was 
plainly  visible,  and  our  attention  was  divided  between  this 
approaching  steamer  and  the  expected  assault.  When  the 
sun  was  about  an  hour  high,  another  signal  message  came 


4H  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

from  General  Hazen  that  he  was  all  ready,  and  I  replied  to 
go  ahead,  as  a  friendly  steamer  was  approaching  from  below. 
Soon  we  made  out  a  group  of  officers  on  the  deck  of  this  ves- 
sel, signaling  with  a  flag,  'Who  are  you?'  The  answer  went 
back  promptly,  'General  Sherman. '  Then  followed  the  ques- 
tion, 'Is  fort  McAllister  taken?'  'Not  yet,  but  it  will  be  in 
a  minute!'  Almost  at  that  instant  of  time,  we  saw  Hazen's 
troops  come  out  of  the  dark  fringe  of  woods  that  encompassed 
the  fort,  the  lines  dressed  as  on  parade,  with  colors  flying, 
and  moving  forward  with  a  quick,  steady  pace.  Fort  McAl- 
lister was  then  all  alive,  its  big  guns  belching  forth  dense 
clouds  of  smoke,  which  soon  enveloped  our  assaulting  lines. 
One  color  went  down,  but  it  was  up  in  a  moment.  On  the 
lines  advanced,  faintly  seen  in  the  white,  sulphurous  smoke; 
there  was  a  pause,  a  cessation  of  fire;  the  smoke  cleared 
away,  and  the  parapets  were  blue  with  our  men,  who  fired 
their  muskets  in  the  air,  and  shouted  so  that  we  actually  heard 
them,  or  felt  that  we  did.  Fort  McAllister  was  taken,  and 
the  good  news  was  instantly  sent  by  the  signal  officer  to  our 
navy  friends  on  the  approaching  gun-boat,  for  a  point  of  tim- 
ber had  shut  out  Fort  McAllister  from  their  view,  and  they 
had  not  seen  the  action  at  all,  but  must  have  heard  the  can- 
nonading. 

"During  the  progress  of  the  assault,  our  little  group  on 
Cheeves'  mill  hardly  breathed;  but  no  sooner  did  we  see  our 
flags  on  the  parapet  than  I  exclaimed,  in  the  language  of  the 
poor  negro  at  Cobb's  plantation,  'This  nigger  will  have  no 
sleep  this  night!' 

"I  was  resolved  to  communicate  with  our  fleet  that  night, 
which  happened  to  be  a  beautiful  moonlight  one.  At  the 
wharf  belonging  to  Cheeves'  mill  was  a  small  skiff,  that  had 
been  used  by  our  men  in  fishing  or  in  gathering  oysters.  I 
was  there  in  a  minute,  called  for  a  volunteer  crew,  when  sev- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  415 

eral  young  officers,  Nichols  and  Merritt  among  the  number, 
said  they  were  good  oarsmen,  and  volunteered  to  pull  the 
boat  down  to  Fort  McAllister.  General  Howard  asked  to 
accompany  me;  so  we  took  seats  in  the  stern  of  the  boat, 
and  our  crew  of  officers  pulled  out  with  a  will.  The  tide  was 
setting  in  strong,  and  they  had  a  hard  pull,  for,  though  the 
distance  was  but  three  miles  in  an  air-line,  the  river  was  so 
crooked  that  the  actual  distance  was  fully  six  miles.  On  the 
way  down  we  passed  the  wreck  of  a  steamer  which  had  been 
sunk  some  years  before,  during  a  naval  attack  on  Fort  Mc- 
Allister. 

u  Night  had  fairly  set  in  when  we  discovered  a  soldier  on  the 
beach.  I  hailed  him,  and  inquired  if  he  knew  where  General 
Hazen  was.  He  answered  that. the  general  was  at  the  house 
of  the  overseer  of  the  plantation  (McAllister's),  and  that  he 
could  guide  me  to  it.  We  accordingly  landed,  tied  our  boat 
to  a  drift-log,  and  followed  our  guide  through  bushes  to  a 
frame  house,  standing  in  a  grove  of  live-oaks,  near  a  row  of 
negro  quarters.  General  Hazen  was  there  with  his  staff,  in 
the  act  of  getting  supper;  he  invited  us  to  join  them,  which 
we  accepted  promptly,  for  we  were  really  very  hungry.  Of 
course,  I  congratulated  Hazen  most  heartily  on  his  brilliant 
success,  and  praised  its  execution  very  highly,  as  it  deserved, 
and  he  explained  to  me  more  in  detail  the  exact  results.  The 
fort  was  an  inclosed  work,  and  its  land  front  was  in  the  na- 
ture of  a  bastion  and  curtinas,  with  good  parapet,  ditch, 
fraise,  and  chevaux-de-frise,  made  out  of  the  large  branches 
of  live-oaks.  Luckily,  the  Rebels  had  left  the  larger  and  un- 
wieldly  trunks  on  the  ground,  which  served  as  a  good  cover 
for  the  skirmish  line,  which  crept  behind  these  logs,  and  from 
them  kept  the  artillerists  from  loading  and  firing  their  guns 
accurately. 

The  assault  had  been  made  by  three    parties   in   line,  one 


416  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

from  below,  one  from  above  the  fort,  and  the  third  directly 
in  rear,  along  the  capital.  All  were  simultaneous,  and  had 
to  pass  a  good  abatis  and  line  of  torpedoes,  which  actually 
killed  more  of  the  assailants  than  the  heavy  guns  of  the  fort, 
which  generally  overshot  the  mark.  Hazen's  entire  loss  was 
reported,  killed  and  wounded,  ninety-two.  Each  party  reached 
the  parapet  about  the  same  time,  and  the  garrison  inside, 
of  about  two  hundred  and  £fty  men  (about  fifty  of  them  killed 
or  wounded),  were  in  his  power.  The  commanding  officer, 
Major  Anderson,  was  at  that  moment  a  prisoner,  and  General 
Hazen  invited  him  in  to  take  supper  with  us,  which  he  did. 

"Up  to  this  time  General  Hazen  did  not  know  that  a  gun- 
boat was  in  the  river  below  the  fort;  for  it  was  shut  off  from 
sight  by  a  point  of  timber,  and  I  was  determined  to  board 
her  that  night,  at  whatever  risk  or  cost,  as  I  wanted  some 
news  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  outer  world.  Accordingly, 
after  supper,  we  all  walked  down  to  the  fort,  nearly  a  mile 
from  the  house  where  we  had  been,  entered  Fort  McAllister, 
held  by  a  regiment  of  Hazen's  troops,  and  the  sentinel  cau- 
tioned us  to  be  very  careful,  as  the  ground  outside  the  fort 
was  full  of  torpedoes.  Indeed,  while  we  were  there,  a  torpedo 
exploded,  tearing  to  pieces  a  poor  fellow  who  was  hunting 
for  a  dead  comrade.  Inside  the  fort  lay  the  dead  as  they 
had  fallen,  and  they  could  hardly  be  distinguished  from  their 
living  comrades  sleeping  soundly  side  by  side  in  the  pale 
moonlight.  In  the  river  close  by  the  fort  was  a  good  yawl  tied 
to  a  stake,  but  the  tide  was  high,  and  it  required  some  time 
to  get  it  in  to  the  bank;  the  commanding  officer,  whose 
name  I  cannot  recall,  manned  the  boat  with  a  good  crew  of 
his  men,  and,  with  General  Howard,  I  entered,  and  pulled 
down-stream,  regardless  of  the  warnings  of  all  about  tor- 
pedoes. 

"The  night  was  unusually  bright,  and  we  expected  to  find 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  417 

the  gunboat  within  a  mile  or  so;  but,  after  pulling  down  the 
river  fully  three  miles,  and  not  seeing  the  gun-boat,  I  began 
to  think  she  had  turned  and  gone  back  to  the  sound;  but  we 
kept  on,  following  the  bends  of  the  river,  and  about  six  miles 
below  McAllister  we  saw  her  light,  and  soon  were  hailed  by 
the  vessel  at  anchor.  Pulling  alongside,  we  announced  our- 
selves, and  were  received  with  great  warmth  and  enthusiasm 
on  deck  by  half  a  dozen  naval  officers,  among  them  Captain 
Williamson,  United  States  Navy.  She  proved  to  be  the 
Dandelion,  a  tender  of  the  regular  gun-boat  Flag,  posted  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Ogeechee.  All  sorts  of  questions  were 
made  and  answered,  and  we  learned  that  Captain  Duncan 
had  safely  reached  the  squadron,  had  communicated  the  good 
news  of  our  approach,  and  they  had  been  expscting  us  for 
some  days.  They  explained  that  Admiral  Dahlgren  com- 
manded the  South-Atlantic  Squadron,  which  was  then  en- 
gaged in  blockading  the  coast  from  Charleston  south,  and 
was  on  his  flag-ship,  the  Harvest  Moon,  lying  in  Wassaw 
Sound;  that  General  J.  G.  Foster  was  in  command  of  the  De- 
partment of  the  South,  with  his  headquarters  at  Hilton  Head, 
and  that  several  ships  loaded  with  stores  for  the  army  were 
lying  in  Tybee  Roads  and  in  Port  Royal  Sound.  From  these 
officers  I  also  learned  that  General  Grant  was  still  besieging 
Petersburg  and  Richmond,  and  that  matters  and  things  gener- 
ally remained  pretty  much  the  same  as  when  we  had  left  At- 
lanta. All  thoughts  seemed  to  have  been  turned  to  us  in  Geor- 
gia, cut  off  from  all  communication  with  our  friends;  and  the 
Rebel  papers  had  reported  us  to  be  harassed,  defeated,  starv- 
ing, and  fleeing  for  safety  to  the  coast.  I  then  asked  for  pen 
and  paper,  and  wrote  several  hasty  notes  to  General  Foster, 
Admiral  Dahlgren,  General  Grant,  and  the  Secretary  of  War, 
giving  in  general  terms  the  actual  state  of  affairs,  the  fact  of 
the  capture  of  Fort  McAllister,  and  of  my  desire  that  means 
27 


41 8  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

should  be  taken  to  establish  a  line  of  supply  from  the  vessels 
in  port  up  the  Ogeechee  to  the  rear  of  the  army.  As  a  sample, 
I  give  one  of  these  notes,  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
intended  for  publication,  to  relieve  the  anxiety  of  our  friends 
at  the  North  generally: 

"ON  BOARD  DANDELION,  OSSABAW  SOUND,  ) 
December  13,  1864  —  11.50?.  M.  f 

"To  Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War,  Washington, 
D.  C. 

"To-day  at  5  p.  M.,  General  Hazen's  division  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Corps  carried  Fort  McAllister  by  assault,  capturing 
its  entire  garrison  and  stores.  This  opened  to  us  Ossabaw 
Sound,  and  I  pushed  down  to  this  gun-boat  to  communicate 
with  the  fleet.  Before  opening  communication  we  had  com- 
pletely destroyed  all  the  railroads  leading  into  Savannah, 
and  invested. the  city.  The  left  of  the  army  is  on  the  Savannah 
River  three  miles  above  the  city,  and  the  right  on  the 
Ogeechee,  at  King's  Bridge.  The  army  is  in  splendid  order, 
and  equal  to  anything.  The  weather  has  been  fine,  and 
supplies  were  abundant.  Our  march  was  most  agreeable, 
and  we  were  not  at  all  molested  by  guerrillas. 

"We  reached  Savannah  three  days  ago,  but,  owing  to  Fort 
McAllister,  could  not  communicate;  brt,  now  that  we  have 
McAllister,  we  can  go  ahead. 

"We  have  already  captured  two  boats  on  the  Savannah 
River,  and  prevented  their  gun-boats  from  coming  down. 

"I  estimate  the  population  of  Savannah  at  twenty-five 
thousand,  and  the  garrison  at  fifteen  thousand.  General 
Hardee  commands. 

"We  have  not  lost  a  wagon  on  the  trip;  but  have  gathered 
a  large  supply  of  negroes,  mules,  horses,  etc.,  and  our  teams 
are  in  far  better  condition  than  when  we  started. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  419 

"My  first  duty  will  be  to  clear  the  army  of  surplus  negroes, 
mules,  and  horses.  We  have  utterly  destroyed  over  two 
hundred  miles  of  rails,  and  consumed  stores  and  provisions 
that  were  essential  to  Lee's  and  Hood's  armies. 

"The  quick  work  made  with  McAllister,  the  opening  of 
communication  with  our  fleet  and  our  consequent  independ- 
ence as  to  supplies,  dissipate  all  their  boasted  threats  to  head 
us  off  and  starve  the  army. 

"I  regard  Savannah  as  already  gained. 
"Yours  truly, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 

After  he  had  completed  his  plans  for  the  siege  of  Savannah 
General  Sherman  received  letters  from  General  Grant  urging 
him  to  move  his  army  toward  Richmond.  This  was  a  serious 
disappointment  to  General  Sherman,  and  to  his  army.  It 
had  been  believed  possible  to  take  Savannah,  and  the  army 
was  ripe  for  the  work.  The  correspondence  shows  the  feel- 
ing of  Sherman  and  his  officers. 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
"CiTY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  December  3,  1864.  j 

"Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding  armies  near 
Savannah,  Georgia. 

"GENERAL:  The  little  information  gleaned  from  the  South- 
ern press  indicating  no  great  obstacle  to  your  progress,  I  have 
directed  your  mails  (which  had  been  previously  collected  in 
Baltimore  by  Colonel  Markland,  special  agent  of  the  post- 
office  department)  to  be  sent  as  far  as  the  blockading  squad- 
ron off  Savannah,  to  be  forwarded  to  you  as  soon  as  heard 
from  on  the  coast. 

"Not  liking  to  rejoice  before  the  victory  is  assured,  I  ab- 
stain from  congratulating  you  and  those  under  your  com- 


42O  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

mand,  until  bottom  has  been  struck.     I  have  never  had  a 
fear,  however,  for  the  result. 

"Since  you  left  Atlanta  no  very  great  progress  has  been 
made  here.  The  enemy  has  been  closely  watched,  though, 
and  prevented  from  detaching  against  you.  I  think  not  one 
man  has  gone  from  here,  except  some  twelve  or  fifteen  hun- 
dred dismounted  cavalry.  Bragg  has  gone  from  Wilmington. 
I  am  trying  to  take  advantage  of  his  absence  to  get  posses- 
sion of  that  place.  Owing  to  some  preparations  Admiral 
Porter  and  General  Butler  are  making  to  blow  up  Fort  Fisher 
(which,  while  hoping  for  the  best,  I  do  not  believe  a  particle 
in),  there  is  a  delay  in  getting  this  expedition  off.  I  hope 
they  will  be  ready  to  start  by  the  7th,  and  that  Bragg  will 
not  have  started  back  by  that  time. 

"In  this  letter  I  do  not  intend  to  give  you  anything  like 
directions  for  future  action,  but  will  state  a  general  idea  I 
have,  and  will  get  your  views  after  you  have  established 
yourself  on  the  sea-coast.  With  your  veteran  army  I  hope 
to  get  control  of  the  only  two  through  routes  from  east  to 
west  possessed  by  the  enemy  before  the  fall  of  Atlanta.  The 
condition  will  be  filled  by  holding  Savannah  and  Augusta,  or  by 
holding  any  other  port  to  the  east  of  Savannah  andBranchville. 
If  Wilmington  falls,  a  force  from  there  can  co-operate  with  you. 

"Thomas  has  got  back  into  the  defenses  of  Nashville,  with 
Hood  close  upon  him.  Decatur  has  been  abandoned,  and  so 
have  all  the  roads,  except  the  main  one  leading  to  Chatta- 
nooga. Part  of  this  falling  back  was  undoubtedly  necessary, 
and  all  of  it  may  have  been.  It  did  not  look  so,  however,  to 
me.  In  my  opinion,  Thomas  far  outnumbers  Hood  in  infantry. 
In  cavalry  Hood  has  the  advantage  in  morale  and  numbers. 
I  hope  yet  that  Hood  will  be  badly  crippled,  if  not  destroyed. 
The  general  news  you  will  learn  from  the  papers  better  than 
I  can  give  it. 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  421 

"After   all   becomes  quiet,  and    roads  become  so   bad   up 
here  that  there  is  likely  to  be  a  week  or  two  when  nothing 
can  be  done,  I  will  run  down  the  coast  to  see  you.     If  you 
desire  it,  I  will  ask  Mrs.   Sherman  to  go  with  me. 
"Yours  truly, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General." 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  December  6,  1864.  ) 

"Major-General    W.     T.    SHERMAN,    commanding   Military 
Division  of  the  Mississippi. 

"GENERAL:  On  reflection  since  sending  my  letter  by  the 
hands  of  Lieutenant  Dunn,  I  have  concluded  that  the  most 
important  operation  toward  closing  out  the  rebellion  will  be 
to  close  out  Lee  and  his  army. 

"You  have  now  destroyed  the  roads  of  the  South  so  that 
it  will  probably  take  them  three  months  without  interrup- 
tion to  re-establish  a  through  line  from  east  to  west.  In  that 
time  I  think  the  job  here  will  be  effectually  completed. 

"My  idea  now  is  that  you  establish  a  base  on  the  sea- 
coast,  fortify  and  leave  in  it  all  your  artillery  and  cavalry,  and 
enough  infantry  to  protect  them,  and  at  the  same  time  so 
threaten  the  interior  that  the  militia  of  the  South  will  have 
to  be  kept  at  home.  With  the  balance  of  your  command 
come  here  by  water  with  all  dispatch.  Select  yourself  the 
officer  to  leave  in  command,  but  you  I  want  in  person.  Un- 
less you  see  objections  to  this  plan  which  I  cannot  see,  use 
every  vessel  going  to  you  for  purposes  of  transportation. 

"Hood  has  Thomas  dose  in  Nashville.  I  have  said  all  I 
can  to  force  him  to  attack,  without  giving  the  positive  order 
until  to-day.  To-day,  however,  I  could  stand  it  no  longer, 
and  gave  the  order  without  any  reserve.  I  think  the  battle 
will  take  place  to-morrow.  The  result  will  probably  be 


422  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

known  in  New  York  before  Colonel  Babcock  (the  bearer  of 
this)  will  leave  it.  Colonel  Babcock  will  give  you  full  infor- 
mation of  all  operations  now  in  progress. 

"Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General" 

"The  contents  of  these  letters  gave  me  great  uneasiness,  for 
I  had  set  my  heart  on  the  capture  of  Savannah,  which  I  be- 
lieved to  be  practicable,  and  to  be  near;  for  me  to  embark 
for  Virginia  by  sea  was  so  complete  a  change  from  what  I  had 
supposed  would  be  the  course  of  events  that  I  was  very  much 
concerned.  I  supposed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  a  fleet 
of  vessels  would  soon  pour  in,  ready  to  convey  the  army  to 
Virginia,  and  as  General  Grant's  orders  contemplated  my 
leaving  the  cavalry,  trains,  and  artillery,  behind,  I  judged 
Fort  McAllister  to  be  the  best  place  for  the  purpose,  and 
sent  my  chief-engineer,  Colonel  Poe,  to  that  fort,  to  recon- 
noiter  the  ground,  and  to  prepare  it  so  as  to  make  it  a  fortified 
camp  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  vast  herd  of  mules 
and  horses  that  would  thus  be  left  behind. 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  NEAR  SAVANNAH,  December  16,  1864.  f 

"Lieutenant-general    U.     S.    GRANT,    Commander-in-Chief, 

City  Point,  Virginia. 

"GENERAL:  I  received,  day  before  yesterday,  at  the  hands 
of  Lieutenant  Dunn,  your  letter  of  December  3d,  and  last 
night  at  the  hands  of  Colonel  Babcock,  that  of  December  6th. 
I  had  previously  made  you  a  hasty  scrawl  from  the  tug-boat 
Dandelion,  in  Ogeechee  River,  advising  you  that  the  army 
had  reached  the  sea-coast,  destroying  all  the  railroads  across 
the  State  of  Georgia,  investing  closely  the  city  of  Savannah, 
and  had  made  connection  with  the  fleet. 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  423 

"Since  writing  that  note,  I  have  in  person  met  and  con- 
ferred with  General  Foster-  and  Admiral  Dahlgren,  and  made 
all  the  arrangements  which  were  deemed  essential  for  reduc- 
ing the  city  of  Savannah  to  our  possession.  But,  since  the 
receipt  of  yours  of  the  6th,  I  have  initiated  measures  looking 
principally  to  coming  to  you  with  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  in- 
fantry, and  incidentally  to  capture  Savannah,  if  time  will 
allow. 

"At  the  time  we  carried  Fort  McAllister  by  assault  so 
handsomely,  with  its  twenty-two  guns  and  entire  garrison, 
I  was  hardly  aware  of  its  importance;  but,  since  passing 
down  the  river  with  General  Foster  and  up  with  Admiral 
Dahlgren,  I  realize  how  admirably  adapted  are  Ossabaw 
Sound  and  Ogeechee  River  to  supply  an  army  operating 
against  Savannah.  Sea-going  vessels  can  easily  come  to  King's 
Bridge,  a  psint  on  Ogeechee  River,  fourteen  and  a  half  miles 
due  west  of  Savannah,  from  which  point  we  have  roads 
leading  to  all  our  camps.  The  country  is  low  and  sandy, 
and  cut  up  with  marshes,  which  in  wet  weather  will  be  very 
bad,  but  we  have  been  so  favored  with  weather  that  they 
are  all  now  comparatively  good,  and  heavy  details  are  con- 
stantly employed  in  double-corduroying  the  marshes,  so  that 
I  have  no  fears  even  of  bad  weather.  Fortunately,  also,  by 
liberal  and  judicious  foraging,  we  reached  the  sea-coast  abun- 
dantly supplied  with  forage  and  provisions,  needing  nothing 
on  arrival  except  bread.  Of  this  we  started  from  Atlanta, 
with  from  eight  to  twenty  days'  supply  per  corps,  and  some 
of  the  troops  only  had  one  day's  issue  of  bread  during  the 
trip  of  thirty  days;  yet  they  did  not  want,  for  sweet  potatoes 
were  very  abundant,  as  well  as  corn-meal,  and  our  soldiers 
took  to  them  naturally.  We  started  with  about  five  thousand 
head  of  cattle,  and  arrived  with  over  ten  thousand,  of  course 
consuming  mostly  turkeys,  chickens,  sheep,  hogs,  and  the 


424  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

cattle  of  the  country.  As  to  our  mules  and  horses,  we  left 
Atlanta  with  about  twenty-five  hundred  wagons,  many  of 
which  were  drawn  by  mules  which  had  not  recovered  from 
the  Chattanooga  starvation,  all  of  which  were  replaced,  the 
poor  mules  shot,  and  our  transportation  is  now  in  superb  con- 
dition. I  have  no  doubt  the  State  of  Georgia  has  lost,  by 
our  operations,  fifteen  thousand  first-rate  mules.  As  to  horses, 
Kitpatrick  collected  all  his  remounts,  and  it  looks  to  me,  in 
riding  along  our  columns,  as  though  every  officer  had  three 
or  four  led  horses,  and  each  regiment  seems  to  be  followed  by 
at  least  fifty  negroes  and  foot-sore  soldiers,  riding  on  horses 
and  mules.  The  custom  was  for  each  brigade  to  send  out 
daily  a  foraging  party  of  about  fifty  men,  on  foot,  who  invari- 
ably returned  mounted,  with  several  wagons  loaded  with 
poultry,  potatoes,  etc.,  and  as  the  army  is  composed  of 
about  forty  brigades,  you  can  estimate  approximately  the 
number  of  horses  collected.  Great  numbers  of  these  were 
shot  by  my  order,  because  of  the  disorganizing  effect  on  our 
infantry  of  having  too  many  idlers  mounted.  General  Easton 
is  now  engaged  in  collecting  statistics  on  this  subject,  but  I 
know  the  Government  will  never  receive  full  accounts  of  our 
captures,  although  the  result  aimed  at  was  fully  attained, 
viz.,  to  deprive  our  enemy  of  them.  All  these  animals  I  will 
have  sent  to  Port  Royal,  or  collected  behind  Fort  McAllister, 
to  be  used  by  General  Saxton  in  his  farming  operations,  or 
by  the  quartermaster's  department,  after  they  are  system- 
atically accounted  for.  While  General  Easton  is  collecting 
transportation  for  my  troops  to  James  River,  I  will  throw  to 
Port  Royal  Island  all  our  means  of  transportation  I  can,  and 
collect  the  rest  near  Fort  McAllister,  covered  by  the  Ogeechee 
River,  and  intrenchments  to  be  erected,  and  for  which 
Captain  Poe,  my  chief-engineer,  is  now  reconnoitering  the 
ground,  but  in  the  meantime  will  act  as  I  have  begun,  as 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  425 

though  the  city  of  Savannah  were  my  objective:  namely,  the 
troops  will  continue  to  invest  Savannah  closely,  making 
attacks  and  feints  wherever  we  have  fair  ground  to  stand 
upon,  and  I  will  place  some  thirty-pound  Parrotts,  which  I 
have  got  from  General  Foster,  in  position,  near  enough  to 
reach  the  center  of  the  city,  and  then  will  demand  its  sur- 
render. If  General  Hardee  is  alarmed  or  fears  starvation,  he 
may  surrender;  otherwise  I  will  bombard  the  city,  but  not  risk 
the  lives  of  our  men  by  assaults  across  the  narrow  causeways, 
by  which  alone  I  can  now  reach  it. 

"If  I  had  time,  Savannah  with  all  its  dependent  fortifica- 
tions, would  surely  fall  into  our  possession,  for  we  hold  all 
its  avenues  of  supply. 

"The  enemy  has  made  two  desperate  efforts  to  get  boats 
from  above  to  the  city,  in  both  of  which  he  has  been  foiled— 
General  Slocum  (whose  left  flank  rests  on  the  river)  capturing 
and  burning  the  first  boat,  and  in  the  second  instance  driving 
back  two  gun-boats  and  capturing  the  steamer  Resolute,  with 
seven  naval  officers  and  a  crew  of  twenty-five  seamen.  Gen- 
eral Slocum  occupies  Argyle  Island  and  the  upper  end  of 
Hutchinson  Island,  and  has  a  brigade  on  the  South  Carolina 
shore  opposite,  and  is  very  urgent  to  pass  one  of  his  corps  over 
to  that  shore.  But,  in  view  of  the  change  of  plan  made  nec- 
essary by  your  order  of  the  6th,  I  will  maintain  things  in 
statu  quo  till  I  have  got  all  my  transportation  to  the  rear  and 
out  of  the  way,  and  until  I  have  sea-transportation  for  the 
troops  you  require  at  James  River,  which  I  will  accompany 
and  command  in  person.  Of  course,  I  will  leave  Kilpatrick, 
with  his  cavalry,  say  five  thousand  three  hundred,  and,  it 
may  be,  a  division  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps;  bui,  before  de- 
termining on  this,  I  must  see  General  Foster,  and  may  arrange 
to  shift  his  force  (now  over  above  the  Charleston  Railroad, 
at  the  head  of  Broad  River)  to  the  Ogeechee,  where,  in  co- 


426  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

operation  with  Kilpatrick's  cavalry,  he  can  better  threaten  the 
State  of  Georgia  than  from  the  direction  of  Port  Royal. 
Besides,  I  would  much  prefer  not  to  detach  from  my  regular 
corps  any  of  its  veteran  divisions,  and  would  even  prefer  that 
other  less  valuable  troops  should  be  sent  to  reinforce  Foster 
from  some  other  quarter.  My  four  corps,  full  of  experience  and 
full  of  ardor,  coming  to  you  en  masse,  equal  to  sixty  thousand 
fighting  men,  will  be  a  reinforcement  that  Lee  cannot  disre- 
gard. Indeed,  with  my  present  command,  I  had  expected, 
after  reducing  Savannah,  instantly  to  march  to  Columbia, 
South  Carolina;  thence  to  Raleigh,  and  thence  to  report  to 
you.  But  this  would  consume,  it  may  be,  six  weeks'  time 
after  the  fall  of  Savannah;  whereas,  by  sea,  I  can  probably 
reach  you  with  my  men  and  arms  before  the  middle  of  Janu- 
ary. 

"I  myself  am  somewhat  astonished  at  the  attitude  of  things 
in  Tennessee.  I  purposely  delayed  at  Kingston  until  General 
Thomas  assured  me  ihat  he  was  all  ready,  and  my  last  dis- 
patch from  him  of  the  I2th  of  November  was  full  of  confi- 
dence, in  which  he  promised  me  that  he  would  ruin  Hood  if 
he  dared  to  advance  from  Florence,  urging  me  to  go  ahead, 
and  give  myself  no  concern  about  Hood's  army  in  Tennessee. 

"Why  he  did  not  turn  him  at  Franklin,  after  checking  and 
discomfiting  him,  surpasses  my  understanding.  Indeed,  I  do 
not  approve  of  his  evacuating  Decatur,  but  think  he  should 
have  assumed  the  offensive  against  Hood  from  Pulaski,  in 
the  direction  of  Waynesburg.  I  know  full  well  that  General 
Thomas  is  slow  in  mind  and  in  action;  but  he  is  judicious 
and  brave,  and  the  troops  feel  great  confidence  in  him.  I 
still  hope  he  will  outmaneuver  and  destroy  Hood. 

"As  to  matters  in  the  Southeast,  I  think  Hardee,  in  Sa- 
vannah, has  good  artillerists,  some  five  or  six  thousand 
good  infantry,  and,  it  may  be,  a  mongrel  mass  of  eight  to 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  427 

ten  thousand  militia.  In  all  our  marching  through  Georgia, 
he  has  not  forced  us  to  use  anything  but  a  skirmish  line, 
though  at  several  points  he  had  erected  fortifications  and 
tried  to  alarm  us  by  bombastic  threats.  In  Savannah  he  has 
taken  refuge  in  a  line  constructed  behind  swamps  and  over- 
flowed rice-fields,  extending  from  a  point  on  the  Savannah 
River  about  three  miles  above  the  city,  around  by  a  branch 
of  the  Little  Ogeechee,  which  stream  is  impassable  from  its 
salt  marshes  and  boggy  swamps,  crossed  only  by  narrow 
causeways  or  common  corduroy  roads. 

"There  must  be  twenty-five  thousand  citizens,  men, 
women  and  children,  in  Savannah,  that  must  also  be  fed,  and 
how  he  is  to  feed  them  beyond  a  few  days  I  cannot  imagine. 
I  know  that  his  requisitions  for  corn  on  the  interior  counties 
were  not  filled,  and  we  are  in  possession  of  the  rice-fields  and 
mills  which  could  alone  be  of  service  to  him  in  this  neigh- 
borhood. He  can  draw  nothing  from  South  Carolina,  save 
from  a  small  corner  down  in  the  southeast,  and  that  by  a 
disused  wagon  road.  I  could  easily  get  possession  of  this, 
but  hardly  deem  it  worth  the  risk  of  making  a  detachment, 
which  would  be  in  danger  by  its  isolation  from  the  main  army. 
Our  whole  army  is  in  fine  condition  as  to  health,  and  the 
weather  is  splendid.  For  that  reason  alone  I  feel  a  personal 
dislike  to  turning  northward.  I  will  keep  Lieutenant  Dunn 
here  until  I  know  the  result  of  my  demand  for  the  surrender 
of  Savannah,  but,  whether  successful  or  not,  shall  not  delay 
my  execution  of  your  order  of  the  6th,  which  will  depend 
alone  upon  the  time  it  will  require  to  obtain  transportation 
by  sea. 

"I  am,  with  respect,  etc.,  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.   T.    SHERMAN, 
"Major-General  United  States  Army" 


428  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

Having  concluded  preparations,  General  Sherman  dis- 
patched (by  flag  of  truce)  into  Savannah  by  the  hands  of 
Colonel  Ewing,  a  demand  for  the  surrender  of  the  place. 
The  following  letter  gives  the  result: 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  SAVANNAH,  GEORGIA,  December  17,  1864.  ) 

"General   WILLIAM    J.    HARDEE,   commanding     Confederate 
Forces  in  Savannah. 

"GENERAL:  You  have  doubtless  observed,  from  your  sta- 
tion at  Rosedew,  that  sea-going  vessels  now  come  through 
Ossabaw  Sound  and  up  the  Ogeechee  to  the  rear  of  my 
army,  giving  me  abundant  supplies  of  all  kinds,  and  more 
especially  heavy  ordnance  necessary  for  the  reduction  of 
Savannah.  I  have  already  received  guns  that  can  cast  heavy 
and  destructive  shot  as  far  as  the  heart  of  your  city;  also, 
I  have  for  some  days  held  and  controlled  every  avenue  by 
which  the  people  and  garrison  of  Savannah  can  be  supplied, 
and  I  am  therefore  justified  in  demanding  the  surrender  of  the 
city  of  Savannah,  and  its  dependent  forts,  and  shall  wait 
a  reasonable  time  for  your  answer,  before  opening  with  heavy 
ordnance.  Should  you  entertain  the  proposition,  I  am  pre- 
pared to  grant  liberal  terms  to  the  inhabitants  and  garrison; 
but  should  I  be  forced  to  resort  to  assault,  or  the  slower  and 
surer  process  of  starvation,  I  shall  then  feel  justified  in  re- 
sorting to  the  harshest  measures,  and  shall  make  little  effort 
to  restrain  my  army — burning  to  avenge  the  National  wrong 
which  they  attach  to  Savannah  and  other  large  cities  which 
have  been  so  prominent  in  dragging  our  country  into  civil  war. 
I  inclose  you  a  copy  of  General  Hood's  demand  for  the  sur- 
render of  the  town  of  Resaca,  to  be  used  by  you  for  what  it 
is  worth. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  429 

"HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  SOUTH  CAROLINA,  GEORGIA,  [ 
AND  FLORIDA,  SAVANNAH,  GA.,  December  17,  1864.  ) 

"Major-General    W.     T.    SHERMAN,     commanding    Federal 
Forces  near  Savannah,  Georgia. 

"GENERAL:  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  com- 
munication from  you  of  this  date,  in  which  you  demand  'the 
surrender  of  Savannah  and  its  dependent  forts, '  on  the  ground 
that  you  'have  received  guns  that  can  cast  heavy  and  de- 
structive shot  into  the  heart  of  the  city, '  and  for  the  further 
reason  that  you  'have,  for  some  days,  held  and  controlled 
every  avenue  by  which  the  people  and  garrison  can  be  sup- 
plied.'  You  add  that,  should  you  be  'forced  to  resort  to 
assault,  or  to  the  slower  and  surer  process  of  starvation, 
you  will  then  feel  justified  in  resorting  to  the  harshest  meas- 
ures, and  will  make  little  effort  to  restrain  your  army,' 
etc. ,  etc.  The  position  of  your  forces,  a  half  mile  beyond  the 
outer  line  for  the  land  defense  of  Savannah,  is,  at  the  nearest 
point,  at  least  four  miles  from  the  heart  of  the  city.  That 
and  the  interior  line  are  both  intact. 

"Your  statement  that  you  have,  for  some  days,  held  and 
controlled  every  avenue  by  which  the  people  and  garrison 
can  be  supplied,  is  incorrect.  I  am  in  free  and  constant 
communication  with  my  department. 

"Your  demand  for  the  surrender  of  Savannah  and  its  de- 
pendent forts  is  refused. 

"With  respect  to  the  threats  conveyed  in  the  closing  par- 
agraphs of  your  letter  (of  what  may  be  expected  in  case  your 
demand  is  not  complied  with)  I  have  to  say  that  I  have 
hitherto  conducted  the  military  operations  intrusted  to  my 
direction  in  strict  accordance  with  the  rules  of  civilized  war- 
fare, and  I  should  deeply  regret  the  adoption  of  any  course 
by  you  that  may  force  me  to  deviate  from  them  in  future. 


430  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant, 

"W.  J.  HARDEE,  Lieutenant-General."" 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  IN  THE  ) 
FIELD,  NEAR  SAVANNAH,  GA.,  December  18,  1864 — 8  p.  M.  j 

"Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  GRANT,  City  Point,  Virginia. 

"GENERAL:  I  wrote  you  at  length  (by  Colonel  Babcock) 
on  the  1 6th  instant.  As  I  therein  explained  my  purpose,  yes- 
terday I  made  a  demand  on  General  Hardee  for  the  surren- 
der of  the  city  of  Savannah,  and  to-day  received  his  answer 
—refusing;  copies  of  both  letters  are  herewith  inclosed.  You 
will  notice  that  I  claim  that  my  lines  are  within  easy  cannon- 
range  of  the  heart  of  Savannah;  but  General  Hardee  asserts 
that  we  are  four  and  a  half  miles  distant.  But  I  myself 
have  been  to  the  intersection  of  the  Charleston  and  Georgia 
Central  Railroads,  and  the  three-mile  post  is  but  a  few  yards 
beyond,  within  the  line  of  our  pickets.  The  enemy  has  no  pick- 
ets outside  of  his  fortified  line  (which  is  a  full  quarter  of  a  mile 
within  the  three-mile  post),  and  I  have  the  evidence  of  Mr. 
R.  R.  Cuyler,  president  of  the  Georgia  Central  Railroad  (who 
was  a  prisoner  in  our  hands)  that  the  mile-posts  are  measured 
from  the  Exchange,  which  is  but  two  squares  back  from  the 
river.  By  to-morrow  morning  I  will  have  six  thirty-pound 
Parrotts  in  position,  and  General  Hardee  will  learn  whether 
I  am  right  or  not.  From  the  left  of  our  line,  which  is  on 
the  Savannah  River,  the  spires  can  be  plainly  seen;  but  the 
country  is  so  densely  wooded  with  pine  and  live-oak,  and 
lies  so  flat  that  we  can  see  nothing  from  any  other  portion 
of  our  lines.  General  Slocum  feels  confident  that  he  can 
make  a  successful  assault  at  one  or  two  points  in  front  of 
General  Davis'  (Fourteenth)  Corps.  All  of  General  Howard's 
troops  (the  right  wing)  lie  behind  the  Little  Ogeechee,  and 
I  doubt  if  it  can  be  passed  by  troops  in  the  face  of  an  enemy. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  43! 

Still,  we  can  make  strong  feints,  and  if  I  can  get  a  sufficient 
number  of  boats,  I  shall  make  a  co-operative  demonstration 
up  Vernon  River  or  Wassaw  Sound.  I  should  like  very 
much  indeed  to  take  Savannah  before  coming  to  you;  but, 
as  I  wrote  to  you  before,  I  will  do  nothing  rash  or  hasty, 
and  will  embark  for  the  James  River  as  soon  as  General 
Easton,  who  is  now  gone  to  Port  Royal  for  that  purpose,  re- 
ports to  me  that  he  has  an  approximate  number  of  vessels 
for  the  transportation  of  the  contemplated  forces.  I  fear  even 
this  will  cost  more  delay  than  you  anticipate,  for  already  the 
movement  of  our  transports  and  the  gun-boats  has  required 
more  time  than  I  had  expected.  We  have  had  dense  fogs; 
there  are  more  mud-banks  in  the  Ogeechee  than  were  re- 
ported, and  there  are  no  pilots  whatever.  Admiral  Dahlgren 
promised  to  have  the  channel  buoyed  and  staked,  but  it  is 
not  done  yet.  We  find  only  six  feet  of  water  up  to  King's 
Bridge  at  low  tide,  about  ten  feet  up  to  the  rice-mill,  and 
sixteen  to  Fort  McAllister.  All  these  points  may  be  used 
by  us,  and  we  have  a  good,  strong  bridge  across  Ogeechee 
at  King's,  by  which  our  wagons  can  go  to  Fort  McAllister, 
to  which  point  I  am  sending  all  wagons  not  absolutely  nec- 
essary for  daily  use,  the  negroes,  prisoners  of  war,  sick,  etc. , 
en  route  for  Port  Royal.  In  relation  to  Savannah,  you  will 
remark  that  General  Hardee  refers  to  his  still  being  in  com- 
munication with  his  department.  This  language  he  thought 
would  deceive  me;  but  I  am  confirmed  in  the  belief  that  the 
route  to  which  he  refers  (the  Union  Plank  road  on  the  South 
Carolina  shore)  is  inadequate  to  feed  his  army  and  the  peo- 
ple of  Savannah,  and  General  Foster  assures  me  that  he  has 
his  force  on  that  very  road,  near  the  head  of  Broad  River, 
so  that  cars  no  longer  run  between  Charleston  and  Savan- 
nah. We  hold  this  end  of  the  Charleston  Railroad,  and  have 
destroyed  it  from  the  three-mile  post  back  to  the  bridge 


432  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

(about  twelve  miles).  In  anticipation  of  leaving  this  coun- 
try, I  am  continuing  the  destruction  of  their  railroads,  and 
at  this  moment  have  two  divisions  and  the  cavalry  at  work 
breaking  up  the  Gulf  Railroad  from  the  Ogeechee  to  the 
Altamaha;  so  that,  even  if  I  do  not  take  Savannah,  I  will 
leave  it  in  a  bad  way.  But  I  still  hope  that  events  will  give 
me  time  to  take  Savannah,  even  if  I  have  to  assault  with 
some  loss.  I  am  satisfied  that,  unless  we  take  it,  the  gun- 
boats never  will,  for  they  can  make  no  impression  upon  the 
batteries  which  guard  every  approach  from  the  sea.  I  have  a 
faint  belief  that,  when  Colonel  Babcock  reaches  you,  you  will 
delay  operations  long  enough  to  enable  me  to  succeed  here. 
With  Savannah  in  our  possession,  at  some  future  time  if  not 
now,  we  can  punish  South  Carolina  as  she  deserves,  and  as 
thousands  of  the  people  in  Georgia  hoped  we  would  do.  I 
do  sincerely  believe  that  the  whole  United  States,  North  and 
South,  would  rejoice  to  have  this  army  turned  loose  on  South 
Carolina,  to  devastate  that  State  in  the  manner  we  have 
done  in  Georgia,  and  it  would  have  a  direct  and  immediate 
bearing  on  your  campaign  in  Virginia. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

UW.  T.  SHERMAN, 
"Major-General  United  States  Army" 

On  receipt  of  Hardee's  letter  General  Sherman  sought 
other  means  of  bringing  the  enemy  to  terms.  He  desired  to 
avoid  the  sacrifice  involved  in  an  assault,  and  pushed  his 
troops  around  the  city,  so  that  if  an  assault  were  made  he 
might  capture  the  whole  of  Hardee's  a'rmy.  On  the  night 
of  the  2ist,  General  Hardee  evacuated  the  post  he  had 
asserted  his  ability  to  hold,  and  the  next  day  our  troops  en- 
tered the  city  of  Savannah,  General  Sherman  sending  to 
President  Lincoln  the  following,  announcing  the  happy  ending 
of  the  expedition: 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  433 

"I  beg  to  present  you,  as  a  Christmas  gift,  the  city  of 
Savannah,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  heavy  guns  and  plenty 
of  ammunition,  and  also  about  twenty-five  thousand  bales  of 
cotton." 

It  is  well  here  to  note  certain  facts  bearing  closely  upon 
the  argument  that  the  Rebels  treated  their  prisoners  as  well 
as  was  possible.  Our  army  had  marched  over  three  hun- 
dred miles  through  the  enemy's  country,  and  near  the  prison 
pen  at  Andersonville,  and  had  subsisted  on  the  surplus  prod- 
ucts gathered  by  the  soldiers  as  their  only  means  of  subsist- 
ence, their  base  of  supplies  having  been  cut  off  at  Atlanta. 
There  was  not  a  man  with  the  army  on  the  march  who  did 
not  learn  enough  of  the  facts  regarding  the  resoucres  of  the 
South  to  understand  that  something  else  than  poverty  forced 
the  starving  of  the  poor  fellows  at  Andersonville. 

Shortly  after  Christmas  General  Sherman  received  the  fol- 
lowing from  Mr.  Lincoln.  Even  at  this  day  its  reading 
brings  a  thrill  of  pleasure  as  it  recalls  the  effect  of  such  news 
as  was  contained  in  Sherman's  brief  note  to  the  people  of 
the  North,  who  had  for  so  long  watched  and  waited  for  news 
of  the  last  army: 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Dec.  26,  1864. 

"Mv  DEAR  GENERAL  SHERMAN: 

"Many,  many  thanks  for  your  Christmas  gift — the  capture 
of  Savannah. 

"When  you  were  about  to  leave  Atlanta  for  the  Atlantic 
Coast,  I  was  anxious,  if  not  fearful;  but  feeling  you  were  the 
better  judge,  and  remembering  that  'nothing  risked  nothing 
gained, '  I  did  not  interfere.  Now,  the  undertaking  being  a 
success,  the  honor  is  all  yours,  for  I  believe  none  of  us  went 
further  than  to  acquiesce.  *  And  taking  the  work  of  General 


28 


434  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Thomas  into  the  count,  as  it  should  be  taken,  it  is  indeed  a 
great  success. 

"Not  only  does  it  afford  the  obvious  and  immediate  mili- 
tary advantages,  but  in  showing  to  the  world  that  your  army 
could  be  divided,  putting  the  stronger  part  to  an  important 
new  service,  and  yet  leaving  enough  to  vanquish  the  old  op- 
posing forces  of  the  whole — Hood's  army — it  brings  those 
who  sat  in  darkness  to  see  a  great  light. 

"But  what  next?  I  suppose  it  will  be  safe  if  I  leave  Gen- 
eral Grant  and  yourself  to  decide. 

"Please  make  my  grateful  acknowledgments  to  your  whole 
army,  officers  and  men. 

"Yours  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN." 

There  was  a  natural  desire  on  the  part  of  General  Sher- 
man to  take  his  army  through  the  state  of  South  Carolina. 
This  feeling  pervaded  the  ranks  quite  as  much  as  the  officers' 
mess.  There  were  many  who  understood  what  had  been  the 
part  of  that  state  in  all  the  proceedings  leading  up  to  the  com- 
mencement of  hostilities.  One  fact  I  related  around  the 
camp  fire  one  night  that  I  will  repeat  as  showing  how  well 
the  army  remembered  incidents  which  in  their  mind  were  but 
portions  of  the  war,  so  quickly  does  the  mind  in  memory 
dissipate  all  central  objects  and  facts,  and  focus  all  on  a 
common  point. 

On  the  morning  after  the  assault  by  Preston  Brooks  on 
Charles  Sumner  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  I  was 
riding  with  my  mother  who  was  giving  John  B.  Gough  and 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  a  drive  through  the  beautiful  city  of 
Portland,  Maine.  Gough  had  lectured  in  Portland  the  night 
before,  and  was  a  guest  at  our  home.  When  speaking  of  the 
dastardly  attack,  Mr.  Gough  said: 

"I  am  not  a  man  of  passion,  nor  do  I  believe  in  war  except 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  435 

as  a  dire  necessity,  but  I  would  like  to  see  South  Carolina 
depopulated,  and  a  plough  run  crosswise  each  way  over  the 
whole  State.  It  has  been  an  infernal  hot-bed  of  strife  and 
deviltry  ever  since  the  organization  of  the  Government." 

The  soldiers  as  a  rule  had  the  same  feeling,  even  those  who 
had  before  the  war  been  democrats.  It  was  natural,  there- 
fore, that  they  should  desire  to  march  by  land  through  the 
State  of  South  Carolina.  The  feeling  was  universal  that  the 
war  was  practically  over,  and  that  the  march  home  would 
be  even  more  of  a  picnic  than  the  past  few  months.  On  the 
8th  of  January,  1 865,  a  general  order  was  issued  by  direction  of 
General  Sherman,  conveying  to  the  army  the  thanks  received 
both  from  the  President  and  Congress.  It  indicated  the 
close  of  the  famous  march  to  the  Sea,  and  the  completion 
of  a  task  with  which  Sherman's  name  will  ever  be  associated. 

In  his  memoirs  General  Sherman  publishes  much  interesting 
correspondence,  showing  what  were  the  relations  between 
himself  and  some  of  the  officials  at  Washington.  It  was  his 
pleasure  to  have  made  a  close  friend  of  Lincoln,  as  it  had 
been  his  misfortune  to  incur  the  hostility  of  most  of  the  more 
jealous  and  suspicious  politicians  who  had  forced  themselves 
on  the  great  War  President.  But  General  Sherman  had  the 
good  habit  of  preserving  his  correspondence,  and  it  is 
through  this  source  that  the  people  of  this  country  are  in- 
debted for  much  historical  information  which  might  have  been 
suppressed  or  ignored  by  the  enterprising  journalists  whose 
information  was  in  inverse  proportion  to  their  freedom  to  ob- 
serve the  operations  of  the  army. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MARCHING  HOMEWARD. 

The  army  which  had  been  lost  and  found  was  now  to 
realize  its  long  hope.  It  was  to  begin  a  march  northward, 
home  being  clearly  in  the  perspective.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  General  Sherman  had  received  on  the  6th  of 
December  an  order  from  General  Grant  to  embark  his  com- 
mand for  Virginia,  by  sea.  This  was  contrary  to  the  wishes 
of  General  Sherman,  but  it  was  not  till  the  2d  of  January 
1865,  that  he  received  by  the  hand  of  General].  G.  Barnard 
of  the  United  States  engineers  the  following  communication: 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  December  27,  1864.  ) 

"Major-General    W.    T.    SHERMAN,     commanding    Military 

Division  of  the  Misssisippi. 

"GENERAL:  Before  writing  you  definite  instruction  for 
the  next  campaign,  I  wanted  to  receive  your  answer  to  my 
letter  written  from  Washington.  Your  confidence  in  being 
able  to  march  up  and  join  this  army  pleases  me,  and  I  be- 
lieve it  can  be  done.  The  effect  of  such  a  campaign  will  be 
to  disorganize  the  South,  and  prevent  the  organization  of  new 
armies  from  their  broken  fragments.  Hood  is  now  retreat- 
ing, with  his  army  broken  and  demoralized.  His  loss  in 
men  has  probably  not  been  far  from  twenty  thousand,  besides 
deserters.  If  time  is  given,  the  fragments  may  be  collected 
together  and  many  of  the  deserters  reassembled.  If  we  can, 
we  should  act  to  prevent  this.  Your  spare  army,  as  it  were, 
moving  as  proposed,  will  do  it. 

436 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  437 

"In  addition  to  holding  Savannah,  it  looks  to  me  that  an 
intrenched  camp  ought  to  be  held  on  the  railroad  between 
Savannah  and  Charleston.  Your  movement  toward'Branch- 
ville  will  probably  enable  Foster  to  reach  this  with  his  own 
force.  This  will  give  us  a  position  in  the  South  from  which 
we  can  threaten  the  interior  without  marching  over  long, 
narrow  causeways,  easily  defended,  as  we  have  heretofore 
been  compelled  to  do.  Could  not  such  a  camp  be  estab- 
lished about  Pocotaligo  or  Coosawhatchie? 

"I  have  thought  that,  Hood  being  so  completely  wiped 
out  for  present  harm,  I  might  bring  A.  J.  Smith  here,  with 
fourteen  to  fifteen  thousand  men.  With  this  increase  I  could 
hold  my  lines,  and  move  out  with  a  greater  force  than 
Lee  has.  It  would  compel  Lee  to  retain  all  his  present 
force  in  the  defenses  of  Richmond  or  adandon  them  entirely. 
This  latter  contingency  is  probably  the  only  danger  to  the 
easy  success  of  your  expedition.  In  the  event  you  should 
meet  Lee's  army,  you  would  be  compelled  to  beat  it  or  find 
the  sea-coast.  Of  course,  I  shall  not  let  Lee's  army  escape 
if  I  can  help  it,  and  will  not  let  it  go  without  following  to 
the  best  of  my  ability. 

"Without  waiting  further  directions,  then,  you  may  make 
your  preparations  to  start  on  your  northern  expedition  with- 
out delay.  Break  up  the  railroads  in  South  and  North  Caro- 
lina, and  join  the  armies  operating  against  Richmond  as  soon 
as  you  can.  I  will  leave  out  all  suggestions  about  the  route 
you  should  take,  knowing  that  your  information,  gained  daily 
in  the  course  of  events,  will  be  better  than  any  that  can  be 
obtained  now. 

"It  may  not  be  possible  for  you  to  march  to  the  rear  of 
Petersburg;  but,  failing  in  this,  you  could  strike  either  of 
the  sea-coast  ports  in  North  Carolina  held  by  us.  From 
there  you  could  take  shipping.  It  would  be  decidedly 


438  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

preferable,  however,  if  you  could  march  the  whole  distance. 

"From  the  best  information  I  have,  you  will  find  no  diffi- 
culty in  supplying  your  army  until  you  cross  the  Roanoke. 
From  there  here  is  but  a  few  days'  march,  and  supplies  could 
be  collected  south  of  the  river  to  bring  you  through.  I  shall 
establish  communication  with  you  there,  by  steamboat  and 
gun-boat.  By  this  means  your  wants  can  be  partially  sup- 
plied. I  shall  hope  to  hear  from  you  soon,  and  to  hear  your 
plan,  and  about  the  time  of  starting. 

"Please  instruct  Foster  to  hold  on  to  all  the  property  in 
Savannah  and  especially  the  cotton.  Do  not  turn  it  over  to 
citizens  or  Treasury  agents,  without  orders  of  the  War  De- 
partment. 

"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General" 

To  this  the  following  reply  was  sent: 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD  NEAR  SAVANNAH,  GA.,  January  2,  1864.  ) 

"Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  GRANT,  City  Point. 

"GENERAL:  I  have  received,  by  the  hands  of  General  Bar- 
nard, your  note  of  26th,  and  letter  of  2/th  December. 

"I  herewith  inclose  to  you  a  copy  of  a  projet  which  I  have 
this  morning  in  strict  confidence,  discussed  with  my  immedi- 
ate commander. 

"I  shall  need,  however,  larger  supplies  of  stores,  especially 
grain.  I  will  inclose  to  you,  with  this,  letters  from  General 
Easton,  quartermaster,  and  Colonel  Beckwith,  commissary 
of  subsistence,  setting  forth  what  will  be  required,  and  trust 
you  will  forward  them  to  Washington  with  your  sanction, 
so  that  the  necessary  steps  may  be  taken  to  enable  me  to 
carry  out  this  plan  on  time. 

"I  wrote  you  very  fully  on  the  24th,   and  have   nothing  to 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  439 

add.  Everything  here  is  quiet,  and  if  I  can  get  the  necessary 
supplies  in  our  wagons,  shall  be  ready  to  start  at  the  time 
indicated  in  my  projet  (January  I5th).  But,  until  those 
supplies  are  in  hand,  I  can  do  nothing;  after  they  are  I  shall 
be  ready  to  move  with  great  rapidity. 

"I  have  heard  of  the  affair  at  Cape  Fear.  It  has  turned 
out  as,  you  will  remember,  I  expected. 

"I  have  furnished  General  Easton  a  copy  of  the  dispatch 
from  the  Secretary  of  War.  He  will  retain  possession  of  all 
cotton  here,  and  ship  it  as  fast  as  vessels  can  be  had  to  New 
York. 

"I  shall  immediately  send  the  Seventeenth  Corps  over  to 
Port  Royal,  by  boats,  to  be  furnished  by  Admiral  Dahlgren 
and  General  Foster  (without  interfering  with  General  Eas- 
ton's  vessels),  to  make  a  lodgment  on  the  railroad  at  Poco- 
taligo. 

"General  Barnard  will  remain  with  me  a  few  days,  and  I 
send  this  by  a  staff  officer,  who  can  return  on  one  of  the 
vessels  of  the  supply  fleet.  I  suppose  that,  now  that  Gen- 
eral Butler  has  got  through  with  them,  you  can  spare  them  to 
us. 

"My  report  of  recent  operations  is  nearly  ready,  and  will 
be  sent  you  in  a  day  or  two,  as  soon  as  some  further  subordi- 
nate reports  come  in. 

"I  am,  with  great  respect,  very  truly,  your  friend, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General^ 

"  [ENTIRELY  CONFIDENTIAL.  ] 

"PROJET  FOR  JANUARY. 

"  I .  Right  wing  to  move  men  and  artillery  by  transports  to 
head  of  Broad  River  and  Beaufort,  re-establish  Port  Royal 
Ferry,  and  mass  the  wing  at  or  in  the  neighborhood  of  Poco- 
taligo. 


440  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

"Left  wing  and  cavalry  to  work  slowly  across  the  causeway 
toward  Hardeeville,  to  open  a  road  by  which  wagons  can 
reach  their  corps  about  Broad  River;  also,  by  a  rapid  move- 
ment of  the  left,  to  secure  Sister's  Ferry,  and  Augusta  road 
out  to  Robertsville.  In  the  meantime,  all  guns,  shot, 
shell,  cotton,  etc.,  to  be  moved  to  a  safe  place,  easy  to 
guard,  and  provisions  and  wagons  got  ready  for  another 
swath,  aiming  to  have  our  army  in  hand  about  the  head  of 
Broad  River,  say  Pocotaligo,  Robertsville,  and  Coosa- 
whatchie,  by  the  I5th  of  January. 

"2.  The  whole  army  to  move  with  loaded  wagons  by  the 
roads  leading  in  the  direction  of  Columbia,  which  afford  the 
best  chance  of  forage  and  provisions.  Howard  to  be  at 
Pocotaligo  by  the  I5th  January,  and  Slocum  to  beat  Rob- 
ertsville, and  Kilpatrick  at  or  near  Coosawhatchie  about 
the  same  date.  General  Foster's  troops  to  occupy  Savan- 
nah, and  gun-boats  to  protect  the  rivers  as  soon  as  Howard 
gets  Pocotaligo. 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 

Prior  to  leaving  Savannah  General  Sherman  was  brought 
into  contact  with  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  then  Secretary  of  War, 
and  the  inevitable  negro  question  was  brought  up.  General 
Sherman  had  been  forewarned  as  to  the  state  of  affairs  at 
the  National  capital.  As  Mr.  Stanton  and  his  friends  have 
given  their  side  of  the  question  to  the  public  it  is  an  impor- 
tant matter  that  the  people  should  also  have  the  simple  story 
of  the  man  who  had  won  such  wonderful  victories,  and  yet  who 
cared  not  for  war,  and  showed  his  disinclination  to  make  his 
services  to  his  country  the  stepping  stones  to  political  pre- 
ferment. Secretary  Stanton  arrived  at  Savannah  on  the 
nth  of  January,  in  company  with  Simon  Draper  of  New 
York,  and  as  General  Sherman  quietly  states,  "a  retinue  of 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN,  44! 

civilians  who  had  come  down  from  the  North  to  regulate  the 
civil  affairs  of  Savannah."  The  first  step  was  recorded  in  the 
following  order,  and  the  General's  story  follows.  Let  it  be 
read  by  those  who  saw  him  on  the  march  and  in  the  field; 
who  knew  him  as  the  fighter  with  care  for  his  men,  and  as  the 
conquerer,  anxious  to  save  bloodshed: 

[SPECIAL  FIELD  ORDERS,  NO.  IO.] 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  January  12,  1865.  j 

1.  Brevet  Brigadier  General  Easton,  chief-quartermaster, 
will  turn  over  to  Simeon  Draper,  Esq.,  agent   of   the  United 
States  Treasury    Department,  all   cotton    now  in  the  city  of 
Savannah,  prize  of  war,  taking  his   receipt   for  the   same  in 
gross,  and  returning  for  it  to  the  quartermaster-general.      He 
will  also  afford   Mr.  Draper  all  the  facilities  in  his  power  in 
the   way    of  transportation,    labor,    etc.,    to   enable  him  to 
handle  the  cotton  with  expedition. 

2.  General  Easton  will  also  turn  over  to   Mr.  Draper  the 
custom-house,  and  such  other  buildings  in  the  city  of  Savan- 
nah as  he  may  need  in  the  execution  of  his  office. 

By  order  of  General  W.  T.  Sherman, 

L.  M.  DAYTON,  Aid-de-Camp. 

"Up  to  this  time  all  the  cotton  had  been  carefully  guarded, 
with  orders  to  General  Easton  to  ship  it  by  the  return  ves- 
sels to  New  York,  for  the  adjudication  of  the  nearest  prize 
court,  accompanied  with  invoices  and  all  evidence  of  title  to 
ownership.  Marks,  numbers,  and  other  figures,  were  carefully 
preserved  on  the  bales  so  that  the  court  might  know  ,the 
history  of  each  bale.  But  Mr.  Stanton,  who  surely  was  an 
able  lawyer,  changed  all  this,  and  ordered  the  obliteration 
of  all  the  marks;  so  that  no  man,  friend  or  foe,  could  trace 


442  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

his  identical  cotton.  I  thought  it  strange  at  the  time,  and 
think  it  more  so  now;  for  I  am  assured  that  claims,  real  and 
fictitious,  have  been  proved  up  against  this  identical  cotton  of 
three  times  the  quantity  actually  captured,  and  that  reclama- 
tions on  the  Treasury  have  been  allowed  for  more  than  the 
actual  quantity  captured,  viz. ,  thirty-one  thousand  bales. 

"Mr.  Stanton  staid  in  Savannah  several  days,  and  seemed 
very  curious  about  matters  and  things  in  general.  I  walked 
with  him  through  the  city,  especially  the  bivouacs  of  the  sev- 
eral regiments  that  occupied  the  vacant  squares,  and  he 
seemed  particularly  pleased  at  the  ingenuity  of  the  men  in 
constructing  their  temporary  huts.  Four  of  the  'dog-tents, ' 
or  tentes  d'abri,  buttoned  together,  served  for  a  roof,  and  the 
sides  were  made  of  clapboards,  or  rough  boards  brought  from 
demolished  houses  or  fences.  I  remember  his  marked  admira- 
tion for  the  hut  of  a  soldier  who  had  made  his  door  out  of  a 
handsome  parlor  mirror,  the  glass  gone  and  its  gilt  frame 
serving  for  his  door. 

"He  talked  to  me  a  great  deal  about  the  negroes,  the  for- 
mer slaves,  and  I  told  him  of  many  interesting  incidents, 
illustrating  their  simple  character  and  faith  in  our  arms  and 
progress.  He  inquired  particularly  about  General  Jeff.  C. 
Davis,  who,  he  said,  was  a  democrat,  and  hostile  to  the 
negro.  I  assured  him  that  General  Davis  was  an  excellent 
soldier,  and  I  did  not  believe  he  had  any  hostility  to  the 
negro;  that  in  our  army  we  had  no  negro  soldiers,  and,  as  a 
rule,  we  preferred  white  soldiers,  but  that  we  employed  a 
large  force  of  them  as  servants,  teamsters,  and  pioneers, 
who  had  rendered  admirable  service.  He  then  showed  me  a 
newspaper  account  of  General  Davis  taking  up  his  pontoon 
bridge  across  Ebenezer  Creek,  leaving  sleeping  negro  men, ' 
women,  and  children,  on  the  other  side,  to  be  slaughtered 
by  Wheeler's  cavalry.  I  had  heard  such  a  rumor,  and  advised 


LIFE   OF  GENERAL   SHERMAN.  443 

Mr.  Stanton,  before  becoming  prejudiced,  to  allow  me 
to  send  for  General  Davis,  which  he  did,  and  General 
Davis,  explained  the  matter  to  his  entire  satisfaction.  The 
truth  was,  that,  as  we  approached  the  seaboard,  the  freed- 
men  in  droves,  old  and  young,  followed  the  several  col- 
umns to  reach  a  place  of  safety.  It  so  happened  that  Gen- 
eral Davis'  route  into  Savannah  followed  what  was  known 
as  the  ' River  Road,'  and  he  had  to  make  constant  use 
of  his  pontoon  train — the  head  of  his  column  reaching  some 
deep,  impassable  creek  before  the  rear  was  fairly  over  an- 
other. He  had  occasionally  to  use  the  pontoons  both  day 
and  night.  On  the  occasion  referred  to,  the  bridge  was 
taken  up  from  Ebenezer  Creek  while  some  of  the  camp  fol- 
lowers remained  asleep  on  the  farther  side,  and  these  were 
picked  up  by  Wheeler's  cavalry.  Some  of  them,  in  their 
fright,  were  drowned  in  trying  to  swim  over,  and  others  may 
have  been  cruelly  killed  by  Wheeler's  men,  but  this  was  a 
mere  supposition.  At  all  events,  the  same  thing  might  have 
resulted  to  General  Howard,  or  to  any  other  of  the  many 
most  humane  commanders  who  filled  the  army.  General 
Jeff.  C.  Davis  was  strictly  a  soldier,  and  doubtless  hated  to 
have  his  wagons  and  columns  encumbered  by  these  poor 
negroes,  for  whom  we  all  felt  sympathy,  but  a  sympathy  of 
a  different  sort  from  that  of  Mr.  Stanton,  which  was  not  of 
pure  humanity,  but  of  politics.  The  negro  question  was  be- 
ginning to  loom  up  among  the  political  eventualities  of  the 
day,  and  many  foresaw  that  not  only  would  the  slaves  secure 
their  freedom,  but  that  they  would  also  have  votes.  I  did 
not  dream  of  such  a  result  then,  but  knew  that  slavery,  as 
such,  was  dead  forever,  and  did  not  suppose  that  the  former 
slaves  would  be  suddenly,  without  preparation,  manufactured 
into  voters,  equal  to  all  others,  politically  and  socially.  Mr. 
Stanton  seemed  desirous  of  coming  into  contact  with  the 


444  LIFE   Op   GENERAL   SHERMAN 

negroes  to  confer  with  them,  and  he  asked  me  to  arrange  an 
interview  for  him.  I  accordingly  sent  out  and  invited  the 
most  intelligent  of  the  negroes,  mostly  Baptist  and  Methodist 
preachers,  to  come  to  my  rooms  to  meet  the  Secretary  of  War. 
Twenty  responded,  and  were  received  in  my  room  upstairs 
in  Mr.  Green's  house,  where  Mr.  Stanton  and  Adjutant-Gen- 
eral Townsend  took  down  the  conversation  in  the  form  of 
questions  and  answers.  Each  of  the  twenty  gave  his  name 
and  partial  history,  and  then  selected  Garrison  Frazier  as 
their  spokesman: 

"''Question. — State  what  your  understanding  is  in  regard  to 
the  acts  of  Congress  and  President  Lincoln's  proclamation 
touching  the  colored  people  in  the  Rebel  States?' 

"' Answer. — So  far  as  I  understand  President  Lincoln's 
proclamation  to  the  Rebel  States,  it  is,  that  if  they  will  lay 
down  their  arms  and  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
before  the  ist  of  January,  1863,  all  should  be  well;  but  if 
they  did  not,  then  all  the  slaves  in  the  Southern  States 
should  be  free,  henceforth  and  forever.  That  is  what  I  un- 
derstood. ' 

iUQ. — State  what  you  understand  by  slavery,  and  the  free- 
dom that  was  to  be  given  by  the  President's  proclamation?' 

"1A. — Slavery  is  receiving  by  irresistible  power  the  work  of 
another  man,  and  not  by  his  consent.  The  freedom,  as  I 
understand  it,  promised  by  the  proclamation,  is  taking  us 
from  under  the  yoke  of  bondage  and  placing  us  where  we  can 
reap  the  fruit  of  our  own  labor,  and  take  care  of  ourselves 

and  assist  the  Government  in  maintaining  our  freedom. ' 
#•*•*#•*•*•*  * 

"'(2- — State  in  what  manner  you  would  rather  live — wheth- 
er scattered  among  the  whites,  or  in  colonies  by  yourselves?' 

"'A. — I  would  prefer  to  live  by  ourselves,  for  there  is  a 
prejudice  against  us  in  the  South  that  will  take  years  to  get 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  445 

over;  but  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  answer  for  my  brethren.' 
"  (All  but  Mr.  Lynch,  a  missionary  from  the  North,  agreed 
with   Frazier,  but  he  thought  they   ought  to  live   together 
along  with  the  whites). 

#•*•*#•**•*  # 

"1Q. — If  the  Rebel  leaders  were  to  arm  the  slaves,  what 
would  be  its  effect?' 

111  A. — I  think  they  would  fight  as  long  as  they  were  before 
the  'bayonet,'  and  just  as  soon  as  they  could  get  away  they 
would  desert,  in  my  opinion. ' 

#######          * 

"'Q. — Do  you  understand  the  mode  of  enlistment  of  colored 
persons  in  the  Rebel  States  by  State  agents,  under  the  act  of 
Congress;  if  yes,  what  is  your  understanding?' 

111  A. — My  understanding  is,  that  colored  persons  enlisted 
by  State  agents  are  enlisted  as  substitutes,  and  give  credit 
to  the  State  and  do  not  swell  the  army,  because  every  black 
man  enlisted  by  a  State  agent  leaves  a  white  man  at  home; 
and  also  that  larger  bounties  are  given,  or  promised,  by  the 
State  agents  than  are  given  by  the  United  States.  The 
great  object  should  be  to  push  through  this  Rebellion  the 
shortest  way;  and  there  seems  to  be  something  wanting  in 
the  enlistment  by  State  agents,  for  it  don't  strengthen  the 
army,  but  takes  one  away  for  every  colored  man  enlisted. ' 

IUQ. — State  what,  in  your  opinion,  is  the  best  way  to  enlist 
colored  men  as  soldiers?' 

"'A. — I  think,  sir,  that  all  compulsory  operations  should 
be  put  a  stop  to.  The  ministers  would  talk  to  them,  and 
the  young  men  would  enlist.  It  is  my  opinion  that  it  would 
be  far  better  for  the  State  agents  to  stay  at  home  and  the 
enlistments  be  made  for  the  United  States  under  the  direc- 
tion of  General  Sherman. ' 

"Up  to  this  time    J    was  present,  and,  on    Mr.    Stanton's 


446  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

intimating  that  he  wanted  to  ask  some  questions  affecting  me, 
I  withdrew,  and  then  he  put  the  twelfth  and  last    question: 

"1Q. — State  what  is  the  feeling  of  the  colored  people  toward 
General  Sherman,  and  how  far  do  they  regard  his  sentiments 
and  actions  as  friendly  to  their  rights  and  interests,  or 
otherwise?' 

"1A. — We  looked  upon  General  Sherman,  prior  to  his 
arrival,  as  a  man,  in  the  providence  of  God,  specially  set 
apart  to  accomplish  this  work,  and  we  unanimously  feel  inex- 
pressible gratitude  to  him,  looking  upon  him  as  a  man  who 
should  be  honored  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty. 
Some  of  us  called  upon  him  immediately  upon  his  arrival, 
and  it  is  probable  he  did  not  meet  the  secretary  with 
more  courtesy  than  he  did  us.  His  conduct  and  deportment 
toward  us  characterized  him  as  a  friend  and  gentleman. 
We  have  confidence  in  General  Sherman,  and  think  what 
concerns  us  could  not  be  in  better  hands.  This  is  our 
opinion  now,  from  the  short  acquaintance  and  intercourse 
we  have  had. ' 

"It  certainly  was  a  strange  fact  that  the  great  War  Secre- 
tary should  have  catechized  negroes  concerning  the  character 
of  a  general  who  had  commanded  a  hundred  thousand  men  in 
battle,  had  captured  cities,  conducted  sixty-five  thousand  men 
successfully  across  four  hundred  miles  of  hostile  territory, 
and  had  just  brought  tens  of  thousands  of  freedmen  to  a 
place  of  security;  but  because  I  had  not  loaded  down  my 
army  by  other  hundreds  of  thousands  of  poor  negroes,  I  was 
construed  by  others  as  hostile  to  the  black  race.  I  had 
received  from  General  Halleck,  at  Washington,  a  letter 
warning  me  that  there  were  certain  influential  parties  near 
the  President,  who  were  torturing  him  with  suspicions  of  my 
fidelity  to  him  and  his  negro  policy;  but  I  shall  always  be- 
lieve that  Mr.  Lincoln,  though  a  civilian,  knew  better,  and 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  447 

appreciated  my  motives  and  character.  Though  this  letter 
of  General  Halleck  has  always  been  treated  by  me  as  confi- 
dential, I  now  insert  it  here  at  length: 

"'HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY,  WASH.,  D.  C.,  ) 

December  30,  1864.  J 

"' Major- General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Savannah. 

"'MY  DEAR  GENERAL:  I  take  the  liberty  of  calling  your 
attention,  in  this  private  and  friendly  way,  to  a  matter  which 
may  possibly  hereafter  be  of  more  importance  to  you  than 
either  of  us  may  now  anticipate. 

"'While  almost  every  one  is  praising  your  great  march 
through  Georgia,  and  the  capture  of  Savannah,  there  is  a 
certain  class  having  now  great  influence  with  the  President, 
and  very  probably  anticipating  still  more  on  a  change  of 
cabinet,  who  are  decidedly  disposed  to  make  a  point  against 
you.  I  mean  in  regard  to  "inevitable  Sambo."  They  say  that 
you  have  manifested  an  almost  criminal  dislike  to  the  negro, 
and  that  you  are  not  willing  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the 
Government  in  regard  to  him,  but  repulse  him  with  con- 
tempt! They  say  you  might  have  brought  with  you  to  Sa- 
vannah more  than  fifty  thousand,  thus  stripping  Georgia  of 
that  number  of  laborers,  and  opening  a  road  by  which  as 
many  more  could  have  escaped  from  their  masters;  but  that, 
instead  of  this,  you  drove  them  from  your  ranks,  prevented 
their  following  you  by  cutting  the  bridges  in  your  rear,  and 
thus  caused  the  massacre  of  large  numbers  by  Wheeler's  cav- 
alry. 

"'To  those  who  know  you  as  I  do,  such  accusation  will  pass 
as  the  idle  winds,  for  we  presume  that  you  discouraged  the 
negroes  from  following  you  because  you  had  not  the  means 
of  supporting  them,  and  feared  they  might  seriously  embar- 
rass your  march.  But  there  are  others,  and  among  them 


448  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

some  in  high  authority,  who  think  or  pretend  to  think  other- 
wisa,  and  they  are  decidedly  disposed  to  make  a  point  against 
you. 

"'I  do  not  write  this  to  induce  you  to  conciliate  this  class 
of  men  by  doing  anything  which  you  do  not  deem  right  and 
proper,  and  for  the  interests  of  the  Government  and  the 
country;  but  simply  to  call  your  attention  to  certain  things 
which  are  viewed  here  somewhat  differently  than  from  your 
stand-point.  I  will  explain  as  briefly  as  possible: 

"'Some  here  think  that,  in  view  of  the  scarcity  of  labor  in 
the  South,  and  the  probability  that  a  part,  at  least,  of  the 
able-bodied  slaves  will  be  called  into  the  military  service  of  the 
Rebels,  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  open  outlets  by 
which  these  slaves  can  escape  into  our  lines,  and  they  say 
that  the  route  you  have  passed  over  should  be  made  the  route 
of  escape,  and  Savannah  the  great  place  of  refuge.  These, 
I  know,  are  the  views  of  some  of  the  leading  men  in  the  Ad- 
ministration, and  they  now  express  dissatisfaction  that  you 
did  not  carry  them  out  in  your  great  raid. 

'"Now  that  you  are  in  possession  of  Savannah,  and  there 
can  be  no  further  fears  about  supplies,  would  it  not  be  pos- 
sible for  you  to  reopen  these  avenues  of  escape  for  the  negroes, 
without  interfering  with  your  military  operations?  Could 
not  such  escaped  slaves  find  at  least  a  partial  supply  of  food 
in  the  rice-fields  about  Savannah,  and  cotton  plantations  on 
the  coast? 

"'I  merely  throw  out  these  suggestions.  I  know  that  such 
a  course  would  be  approved  by  the  Government,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  a  manifestation  on  your  part  of  a  desire  to  bring 
the  slaves  within  our  lines  will  do  much  to  silence  your  op- 
ponents. You  will  appreciate  my  motives  in  writing  this 
private  letter.  Yours  truly, 

H.  W.  HALLECX.'" 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  449 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  pleasure  of  the  trip  made  by  the 
Secretary  of  War,  that  General  Sherman  did  not  allow  the 
true  state  of  affairs  to  become  known  to  the  army.  Soldiers 
who  had  followed  General  Sherman  across  the  enemy's  coun- 
try would  not  have  enjoyed  the  thought  that  their  commander 
was  being  subject  to  the  criticism  of  slaves  for  the  benefit  of 
hostile  influences  at  Washington.  How  little  bitterness  was 
caused  to  the  brave  General  is  seen  by  his  calm  statement 
of  the  facts,  and  further  by  his  willingness  to  place  in  the 
hands  of  a  man  who  had  shown  such  an  animus  a  full  state- 
ment of  the  views  held  by  him.  As  stated  by  General  Sher- 
man, Secretary  Stanton  saw  the  following,  and  made  some 
verbal  alterations. 

[SPECIAL  FIELD  ORDERS,  NO.   !$.] 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  SAVANNAH,  GEORGIA,  January  16,    1865.  f 

1.  The  islands  from  Charleston  south,  the  abandoned  rice- 
fields  along  the  rivers  for  thirty  miles  back  from  the  sea,  and 
the  country  bordering  the  St.  John's  River,  Florida,  are  re- 
served and  set  apart  for  the  settlement  of  the  negroes  now 
made  free  by  the  acts  of  war  and  the  proclamation  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

2.  At  Beaufort,  Hilton  Head,  Savannah,  Fernandina,   St. 
Augustine,  and  Jacksonville,   the  blacks  may  remain  in  their 
chosen  or  accustomed  vocations;  but  on  the  islands,  and  in 
the  settlements  hereafter  to  be  established,    no  white  person 
whatever,    unless  military  officers  and  soldiers  detailed  for 
duty,  will  be  permitted  to  reside;  and  the  sole  and  exclusive 
management  of  affairs  will  be  left  to  the  freed  people  them- 
selves, subject  only  to  the  United  States  military  authority, 
and  the  acts  of  Congress.      By  the  laws  of  war,  and  orders  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  negro  is  free,  and 

29 


45O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

must  be  dealt  with  as  such.  He  cannot  be  subjected  to  con- 
scription, or  forced  military  service,  save  by  the  written 
orders  of  the  highest  military  authority  of  the  department, 
under  such  regulations  as  the  President  or  Congress  may  pre- 
scribe. Domestic  servants,  blacksmiths,  carpenters,  and 
other  mechanics  will  be  free  to  select  their  own  work  and 
residence,  but  the  young  and  able-bodied  negroes  must  be 
encouraged  to  enlist  as  soldiers  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  to  contribute  their  share  toward  maintaining  their  own 
freedom,  and  securing  their  rights  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States. 

Negroes  so  enlisted  will  be  organized  into  companies,  bat- 
talions, and  regiments,  under  the  orders  of  the  United  States 
military  authorities,  and  will  be  paid,  fed,  and  clothed,  ac- 
cording to  law.  The  bounties  paid  on  enlistment  may,  with 
the  consent  of  the  recruit,  go  to  assist  his  family  and  settle- 
ment in  procuring  agricultural  implements,  seed,  tools,  boots, 
clothing,  and  other  articles  necessary  for  their  livelihood. 

3.  Whenever  three  respectable  negroes,  heads  of  families, 
shall  desire  to  settle  on  land,  and  shall  have  selected  for  that 
purpose  an  island  or  a  locality  clearly  denned  within  the 
limits  above  designated,  the  Inspector  of  Settlements  and 
Plantations  will  himself,  or  by  such  subordinate  officer  as  he 
may  appoint,  give  them  a  license  to  settle  such  island  or  dis- 
trict, and  afford  them  such  assistance  as  he  canto  enable  them 
to  establish  a  peaceable  agricultural  settlement.  The  three 
parties  named  will  subdivide  the  land,  under  the  supervision 
of  the  inspector,  among  themselves,  and  such  others  as  may 
choose  to  settle  near  them,  so  that  each  family  shall  have  a 
plot  of  not  more  than  forty  acres  of  tillable  ground,  and, 
when  it  borders  on  some  water-channel,  with  not  more  than 
eight  hundred  feet  water-front,  in  the  possession  of  which 
land  the  military  authorities  will  afford  them  protection  until 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  451 

such  time  as  they  can  protect  themselves,  or  until  Congress 
shall  regulate  their  title.  The  quartermaster  may,  on  the 
requisition  of  the  Inspector  of  Settlements  and  Plantations, 
place  at  the  disposal  of  the  inspector  one  or  more  of  the 
captured  steamers  to  ply  between  the  settlements  and  one  or 
more  of  the  commercial  points  heretofore  named,  in  order  to 
afford  the  settlers  the  opportunity  to  supply  their  necessary 
wants,  and  to  sell  the  products  of  their  land  and  labor. 

4.  Whenever  a  negro  has  enlisted  in  the  military  service 
of  the  United  States,  he  may  locate  his  family  in  any  one  of 
the  settlements  at  pleasure,  and  acquire  a  homestead,  and 
all  other  rights  and  privileges  of  a  settler,  as  though  present 
in  person.     In  like  manner,  negroes  may  settle  their  families 
and  engage  on  board  the  gun-boats,  or  in  fishing,  or  in  the 
navigation  of   the  inland  waters,  without  losing  any  claim  to 
land  or  other  advantages  derived  from  this  system.      But  no 
one,  unless  an  actual  settler  as  above  denned,   or  unless  ab- 
sent on  Government  service,  will   be  entitled  to  claim  any 
right  to  land  or  property  in  any  settlement  by  virtue  of  these 
orders. 

5.  In  order  to  carry  out  this  system  of  settlement,  a  gen- 
eral officer  will  be  detailed  as  Inspector  of  Settlements  and 
Plantations,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  visit  the  settlements, 
to   regulate  their  police   and  general  management,  and  who 
will  furnish  personally  to  each  head  of  a  family,  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  a  pos- 
sessory title  in  writing,  giving  as  near  as  possible  the  descrip- 
tion of  boundaries,  and  who  may  adjust  all  claims  or  con- 
flicts that  may  arise  under  the  same,  subject  to  the  like  ap- 
proval,   treating  such   titles  as  altogether  possessory.      The 
same  general  officer  will  also  be  charged  with  the  enlistment 
and  organization  of  the  negro  recruits,  and  protecting  their 
interests  while  so  absent  from  their  settlements,  and  will  be 


452  LIFE  OF  .GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

governed  by  the  rules  and  regulations  prescribed  by  the  War 
Department  for  such  purpose. 

6.  Brigadier-General  R.  Saxton  is  hereby  appointed  In- 
spector of  Settlements  and  Plantations,  and  will  at  once  enter 
on  the  performance  of  his  duties.  No  change  is  intended  or 
desired  in  the  settlement  now  on  Beaufort  Island,  nor  will 
any  rights  to  property  heretofore  acquired  be  affected 
thereby. 

By  order  of  Major- General  W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

On  January  i8th  General  Slocum  was  ordered  to  turn  over 
the  city  of  Savannah  to  General  J.  G.  Foster,  and  Sherman 
made  preparations  to  move.  The  first  general  order  was 
issued  January  iQth.  It  provided  that  the  right  wing  of  the 
army  should  be  held  at  Pocotaligo,  then  held  by  the  Seven- 
teenth Corps,  and  the  left  wing  with  the  cavalry  near  Roberts- 
ville,  South  Carolina.  It  was  given  out  that  we  were  to 
move  on  Charleston  or  Augusta,  in  order  to  make  the  Con- 
federates maintain  their  garrisons  at  those  places. 

On  the  2ist  General  Sherman,  with  his  headquarters  and 
staff,  embarked  for  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  and  reached 
that  point  on  the  23d.  The  .next  day  General  Sherman 
went  from  Beaufort  in  person  to  inspect  Pocotaligo.  The 
winter  rains  had  made  it  impossible  to  move  the  army,  but 
toward  the  last  of  January  it  became  colder,  and  by  the  ist 
of  February  it  became  possible  to  carry  out  the  plans  made 
by  General  Sherman  for  cutting  another  "swath."  That  the 
time  was  well  spent  may  be  seen  by  the  uniform  success 
attending  every  movement.  It  has  been  noted  that  in  his 
early  life  General  Sherman  studied  law  for  the  purpose  of 
making  his  services  more  available  to  his  country.  His  cor- 
respondence prior  to  the  final  march  through  the  Carolinas 
tells  of  his  busy  life  at  the  time: 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  453 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  21,  1865.  ) 

"Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding  Military  Di- 
vision of  the  Mississippi. 

"GENERAL:  Your  letters  brought  by  General  Barnard  were 
received  at  City  Point,  and  read  with  interest.  Not  having 
them  with  me,  however,  I  cannot  say  that  in  this  I  will  be 
able  to  satisfy  you  on  all  points  of  recommendation.  As  I 
arrived  here  at  i  P.  M.  and  must  leave  at  6  p.  M.  ,  having  in 
the  meantime  spent  over  three  hours  with  the  Secretary  and 
General  Halleck,  I  must  be  brief.  Before  your  last  request 
to  have  Thomas  make  a  campaign  into  the  heart  of  Alabama, 
I  had  ordered  Schofield  to  Annapolis,  Maryland,  with  his  corps. 
The  advance  [six  thousand]  will  reach  the  sea-board  by  the 
23d,  the  remainder  following  as  rapidly  as  railroad  trans- 
portation can  be  procured  from  Cincinnati.  The.  corps  num- 
bers over  twenty-one  thousand  men.  * 

"Thomas  is  still  left  with  a  sufficient  force,  surplus  to  go 
to  Selma  under  an  energetic  leader.  He  has  been  telegraphed 
to,  to  know  whether  he  could  go,  and  if  so,  by  which  of  sever- 
al routes  he  would  select.  No  reply  is  yet  received.  Canby 
has  been  ordered  to  act  offensively  from  the  sea-coast  to  the 
interior,  toward  Montgomery  and  Selma.  Thomas'  forces  will 
move  from  the  north  at  an  early  day,  or  some  of  his  troops 
will  be  sent  to  Canby.  Without  further  reinforcement  Canby 
will  have  a  moving  column  of  twenty  thousand  men. 

"Fort  Fisher,  you  are  aware,  has  been  captured.  We  have 
a  force  there  of  eight  thousand  effective.  At  Newbern  about 
half  the  number.  It  is  rumored,  through  deserters,  that  Wil- 
mington also  has  fallen.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  the  rumor 
because,  on  the  i/th  we  knew  the  enemy  were  blowing  up 
their  works  about  Fort  Caswell,  and  that  on  the  i8th  Terry 
moved  on  Wilmington. 


454  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

"If  Wilmington  is  captured,  Schofield  will  go  there.  If 
not,  he  will  be  sent  to  Newbern.  In  either  event,  all  the 
surplus  forces  at  the  two  points  will  move  to  the  interior,  to- 
ward Goldsboro',  in  co-operation  with  your  movements. 
From  either  point,  railroad  communications  can  be  run  out, 
there  being  here  abundance  of  rolling-stock  suited  to  the 
gauge  of  those  roads. 

"There  have  been  about  sixteen  thousand  men  sent  from 
Lee's  army  south.  Of  these,  you  will  have  fourteen  thou- 
sand against  you,  if  Wilmington  is  not  held  by  the  enemy, 
casualties  at  Fort  Fisher  having  overtaken  about  two  thou- 
sand. 

"All  other  troops  are  subject  to  your  orders  as  you  come 
in  communication  with  them.  They  will  be  so  instructed. 
From  about  Richmond  I  will  watch  Lee  closely,  and  if  he 
detaches  many  men,  or  attempts  to  evacuate,  will  pitch  in. 
In  the  meantime,  should  you  be  brought  to  a  halt  anywhere, 
I  can  send  two  corps  of  thirty  thousand  effective  men  to 
your  support,  from  the  troops  about  Richmond. 

"To  resume:  Canby  is  ordered  to  operate  to  the  interior 
from  the  Gulf.  A.  J.  Smith  may  go  from  the  north,*  but  I 
think  it  doubtful.  A  force  of  twenty-eight  or  thirty  thousand 
will  co-operate  with  you  from  Newbern  or  Wilmington,  or 
both.  You  can  call  for  reinforcements. 

"This  will  be  handed  you  by  Captain  Hudson,  of  my  staff, 
who  will  return  with  any  message  you  may  have  for  me.  If 
there  is  anything  I  can  do  for  you  in  the  way  of  having  sup- 
plies on  shipboard,  at  any  point  on  the  sea-coast,  ready  for 
you,  let  me  know  it.  Yours  truly, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant- General." 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  455 

"  HEADQUARTERS  MIL i  TARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss. ,     ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  POCOTALIGO,  S.  C.  January,  29,  1865.  ) 

"Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  GRANT,  City  Point,  Virginia. 

"DEAR  GENERAL:  Captain  Hudson  has  this  moment  ar- 
rived with  your  letter  of  January  2ist,  which  I  have  read 
with  interest. 

"The  capture  of  Fort  Fisher  has  a  most  important  bearing 
on  my  campaign,  and  I  rejoice  in  it  for  many  reasons,  because 
of  its  intrinsic  importance,  and  because  it  gives  me  another 
point  of  security  on  the  sea-board.  I  hope  General  Terry 
will  follow  it  up  by  the  capture  of  Wilmington,  although  I 
do  not  look  for  it,  from  Admiral  Porter's  dispatch  to  me.  I 
rejoice  that  Terry  was  not  a  West-Pointer,  that  he  belonged 
to  your  army,  and  that  he  had  the  same  troops  with  which 
Butler  feared  to  make  the  attempt. 

"Admiral  Dahlgren,  whose  fleet  is  reinforced  by  some 
more  iron-clads,  wants  to  make  an  assault  a  la  Fisher  on 
Fort  Moultrie,  but  I  withhold  my  consent,  for  the  reason  that 
the  capture  of  all  Sullivan's  Island  is  not  conclusive  as  to 
Charleston;  the  capture  of  James  Island  would  be,  but  all 
pronounce  that  impossible  at  this  time.  Therefore,  I  am 
moving  (as  hitherto  designed)  for  the  railroad  west  of  Branch- 
ville,  then  will  swing  across  to  Orangeburg,  which  will  inter- 
pose my  army  between  Charleston  and  the  interior.  Con- 
temporaneous with  this,  Foster  will  demonstrate  up  the 
Edisto,  and  afterward  make  a  lodgment  at  Bull's  Bay,  and 
occupy  the  common  road  which  leads  from  Mount  Pleasant 
toward  Georgetown.  When  I  get  to  Columbia,  I  think  I 
shall  move  straight  for  Goldsboro',  via  Fayetteville.  By  this 
circuit  I  cut  all  roads  and  devastate  the  land;  and  the  forces 
along  the  coast,  commanded  by  Foster,  will  follow  my  move- 
ment, taking  anything  the  enemy  lets  go,  or  so  occupy  his  at- 
tention that  he  cannot  detach  all  his  forces  against  me.  I  feel 


456  LIFE   OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

sure  of  getting  Wilmington,  and  may  be  Charleston;  and  being 
at  Goldsboro',  with  its  railroads  finished  back  to  Morehead 
City  and  Wilmington,  I  can  easily  take  Raleigh,  when  it 
seems  that  Lee  must  come  out.  If  Schofield  comes  to  Beau- 
fort, he  should  be  pushed  out  to  Kinston,  on  the  Neuse,  and 
maybe  Goldsboro',  or,  rather,  a  point  on  the  Wilmington 
road,  south  of  Goldsboro'.  It  is  not  necessary  to  storm 
Goldsboro',  because  it  is  in  a  distant  region,  of  no  impor- 
tance in  itself,  and,  if  its  garrison  is  forced  to  draw  supplies 
from  the  north,  it  will  be  eating  up  the  same  stores  on  which 
Lee  depends  for  his  command. 

"I  have  no  doubt  Hood  will  bring  his  army  to  Augusta. 
Canby  and  Thomas  should  penetrate  Alabama  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, to  keep  employed  at  least  a  part  of  Hood's  army;  or, 
what  would  accomplish  the  same  thing,  Thomas  might  reoc- 
cupy  the  railroad  from  Chattanooga  forward  to  the  Etowah, 
viz.,  Rome,  Kingston,  and  Allatoona,  therebv  threatening 
Georgia.  I  know  that  the  Georgia  troops  are  disaffected. 
At  Savannah  I  met  delegates  from  several  counties  of  the 
southwest,  who  manifested  a  dscidedly  hostile  spirit  to  the 
Confederate  cause.  I  nursed  the  feeling  as  far  as  possible, 
and  instructed  Grover  to  keep  it  up. 

"My  left  wing  must  now  be  at  Sister's  Ferry,  crossing  the 
Savannah  River  to  the  east  bank.  Slocum  has  orders  to 
be  at  Robertsville  to-morrow,  prepared  to  move  on  Barn- 
well.  Howard  is  here,  all  ready  to  start  for  the  Augusta 
Railroad  at  Midway. 

"We  find  the  enemy  on  the  east  side  of  the  Salkiehatchie, 
and  cavalry  in  our  front;  but  all  give  ground  on  our  approach 
and  seem  to  be  merely  watching  us.  If  we  start  on  Tuesday, 
in  one  week  we  shall  be  near  Orangeburg,  having  broken  up 
the  Augusta  road  from  the  Edisto  westward  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  miles.  I  will  be  sure  that  every  rail  is  twisted.  Should 


I 

LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  457 

we  encounter  too  much  opposition  near  Orangeburg,  then  I 
will  for  a  time  neglect  that  branch,  and  rapidly  move  on  Co- 
lumbia, and  fill  up  the  triangle  formed  by  the  Congaree  and 
Wateree  (tributaries  of  the  Santee),  breaking  up  that  great 
center  of  the  Carolina  roads.  Up  to  that  point  I  feel  full  con- 
fidence, but  from  there  may  have  to  maneuver  some,  and 
will  be  guided  by  the  questions  of  weather  and  supplies. 

"You  remember  we  had  fine  weather  last  February  for  our 
Meridian  trip,  and  my  memory  of  the  weather  at  Charleston 
is,  that  February  is  usually  a  fine  month.  Before  the  March 
storms  come  we  should  be  within  striking  distance  of  the  coast. 
The  months  of  April  and  May  will  be  the  best  for  operations 
from  Goldsboro'  to  Raleigh  and  the  Roanoke.  You  may  rest 
assured  that  I  will  keep  my  troops  well  in  hand,  and,  if  I  get 
worsted,  will  aim  to  make  the  enemy  pay  so  dearly  that  you 
will  have  less  to  do.  I  know  that  this  trip  is  necessary;  it 
must  be  made  sooner  or  later;  I  am  on  time,  and  in  the  right 
position  for  it.  My  army  is  large  enough  for  the  purpose,  and 
I  ask  no  reinforcement,  but  simply  wish  the  utmost  activity 
to  be  kept  up  at  all  other  points,  so  that  concentration 
against  me  may  not  be  universal. 

"I  expect  that  Jeff  Davis  will  move  heaven  and  earth  to 
catch  me,  for  success  to  this  column  is  fatal  to  his  dream  of 
empire.  Richmond  is  not  more  vital  to  his  cause  than  Co- 
lumbia, and  the  heart  of  South  Carolina. 

"If  Thomas  will  not  move  on  Selma,  order  him  to  occupy 
Rome,  Kingston,  and  Allatoona,  and  again  threaten  Georgia 
in  the  direction  of  Athens. 

"I  think  the  'poor  white  trash'  of  the  South  are  falling  out 
of  their  ranks  by  sickness,  desertion,  and  every  available 
means;  but  there  is  a  large  class  of  vindictive  Southerners 
who  will  fight  to  the  last.  The  squabbles  in  Richmond,  the 
howls  in  Charleston,  and  the  disintegration  elsewhere  are 


458  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

all  good  omens  for  us;  we  must  not  relax  one  iota,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  pile  up  our  efforts.  I  would  ere  this  have  been 
off,  but  we  had  terrific  rains,  which  caught  us  in  motion,  and 
nearly  drowned  some  of  the  troops  in  the  rice-fields  of  the  Sa- 
vannah, swept  away  our  causeway  (which  had  been  carefully 
corduroyed),  and  made  the  swamps  hereabout  mere  lakes  of 
slimy  mud.  The  weather  is  now  good,  and  I  have  the  army 
on  terra  firma.  Supplies,  too,  came  for  a  long  time  by  daily 
driblets  instead  of  in  bulk;  this  is  now  all  remedied,  and  I 
hope  to  start  on  Tuesday. 

"I  will  issue  instructions  to  General  Foster,  based  on  the 
reinforcements  of  North  Carolina;  but  if  Schofield  come, 
you  had  better  relieve  Foster,  who  cannot  take  the  field,  and 
needs  an  operation  on  his  leg.  Let  Schofield  take  command, 
with  his  headquarters  at  Beaufort,  North  Carolina,  and  with 
orders  to  secure  Goldsboro'  (with  its  railroad  communication 
back  to  Beaufort  and  Wilmington).  If  Lee  lets  us  get  that 
position,  he  is  gone  up. 

"I  will  start  with  my  Atlanta  army  (sixty  thousand),  sup- 
plied as  before,  depending  on  the  country  for  all  food  in  ex- 
cess of  thirty  days.  I  will  have  less  cattle  on  the  hoof,  but  I 
hear  of  hogs,  cows,  and  calves,  in  Barnwell  and  the  Columbia 
districts.  Even  here  we  have  found  some  forage.  Of  course, 
the  enemy  will  carry  off  and  destroy  some  forage,  but  I  will 
burn  the  houses  where  the  people  burn  their  forage,  and 
they  will  get  tired  of  it. 

"I  must  risk  Hood,  and  trust  to  you  to  hold  Lee,  or  be  on 
his  heels  if  he  comes  south.  I  observe  that  the  enemy  has 
some  respect  for  my  name,  for  they  gave  up  Pocotaligo  with- 
out a  fight  when  they  heard  that  the  attacking  force  belonged 
to  my  army.  I  will  try  and  keep  up  that  feeling,  which  is  a 
real  power.  With  respect,  your  friend, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding." 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  459 

"P.  S. — I  leave  my  chief-quartermaster  and  commissary 
behind  to  follow  coastwise.  W.  T.  S." 

[diSPATCH  no.  6. 

FLAG  STEAMER  PHILADELPHIA,  ) 
SAVANNAH  RIVER,  January^,  1865.  f 

Hon.  GIDEON  WELLES,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

SIR:  I  have  already  apprised  the  Department  that  the 
army  of  General  Sherman  occupied  the  city  of  Savannah  on 
the  2  ist  of  December. 

The  Rebel  army,  hardly  respectable  in  numbers  or  condi- 
tion, escaped  by  crossing  the  river  and  taking  the  Union 
Causeway  toward  the  railroad. 

I  have  walked  about  the  city  several  times,  and  can  affirm 
that  its  tranquillity  is  undisturbed.  The  Union  soldiers  who  are 
stationed  within  its  limits  are  as  orderly  as  if  they  were  in 
New  York  or  Boston.  One  effect  of  the  march  of  General 
Sherman  through  Georgia  has  been  to  satisfy  the  people  that 
their  credulity  has  been  imposed  upon  by  the  lying  assertions 
of  the  Rebel  government,  affirming  the  inability  of  the  United 
States  Government  to  withstand  the  armies  of  Rebeldom. 
They  have  seen  the  old  flag  of  the  United  States  carried  by 
its  victorious  legions  through  their  State,  almost  unopposed, 
and  placed  in  their  principal  city  without  a  blow. 

Since  the  occupation  of  the  city  General  Sherman  has  been 
occupied  in  making  arrangements  for  its  security  after  he 
leaves  it  for  the  march  that  he  meditates.  My  attention  has 
been  directed  to  such  measures  of  co-operation  as  the  num- 
ber and  quality  of  my  force  permit. 

On  the  2d,  I  arrived  here  from  Charleston,  whither,  as  I 
stated  in  my  dispatch  of  the  2Qth  of  December,  I  had  gone  in 
consequence  of  information  from  the  senior  officer  there  that 
the  Rebels  contemplated  issuing  from  the  harbor,  and  his  re- 


460  LIFE    OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

quest  for  my  presence.  Having  placed  a  force  there  of  seven 
monitors,  sufficient  to  meet  such  an  emergency,  and  not  per- 
ceiving any  sign  of  the  expected  raid,  I  returned  to  Savan- 
nah, to  keep  in  communication  with  General  Sherman  and  be 
ready  to  render  any  assistance  that  might  be  desired.  Gen- 
eral Sherman  has  fully  informed  me  of  his  plans,  and,  so  far 
as  my  means  permit,  they  shall  not  lack  assistance  by  water. 

On  the  3d  the  transfer  of  the  right  wing  to  Beaufort  was 
begun  and  the  only  suitable  vessel  I  had  at  hand  (the  Harvest 
Moon)  was  sent  to  Thunderbolt  to  receive  the  first  embarka- 
tion. This  took  place  about  3  p.  M.,  and  was  witnessed  by 
General  Sherman  and  General  Barnard  (United  States  Engi- 
neers), and  myself.  The  Pontiac  was  ordered  around  to 
assist,  and  the  army  transports  also  followed  the  first  move 
by  the  Harvest  Moon. 

I  could  not  help  remarking  the  unbroken  silence  that  pre- 
vailed in  the  large  array  of  troops;  not  a  voice  was  to  be 
heard,  as  they  gathered  in  masses  on  the  bluff  to  look  at  the 
vessels.  The  notes  of  a  solitary  bugle  alone  came  from  their 
midst. 

General  Barnard  made  a  brief  visit  to  one  of  the  Rebel  works 
(Causten's  Bluff)  that  dominated  this  water-course — the  best 
approach  of  the  kind  to  Savannah. 

I  am  collecting  data  that  will  fully  exhibit  to  the  Depart- 
ment the  powerful  character  of  the  defenses  of  the  city  and  its 
approaches.  General  Sherman  will  not  retain  the  extended 
limits  they  embrace  but  will  contract  the  line  very  much. 

General  Foster  still  holds  the  position  near  the  Tullifinny. 
With  his  concurrence  I  have  detached  the  fleet  brigade,  and 
the  men  belonging  to  it  have  returned  to  their  vessels.  The 
excellent  service  performed  by  this  detachment  has  fully  real- 
ized my  wishes,  and  exemplified  the  efficiency  of  the  organiza- 
tion— infantry  and  light  artillery  handled  as  skirmishers. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  461 

The  howitzers  were  always  landed  as  quickly  as  the  men,  and 
were  brought  into  action  before  the  light  pieces  of  the  land- 
service  could  be  got  ashore. 

I  regret  very  much  that  the  reduced  complements  of  the. 
vessels  prevent  me  from  maintaining  the  force  in  constant 
organization.  With  three  hundred  more  marines  and  five 
hundred  seamen  I  could  frequently  operate  to  great  advan- 
tage, at  the  present  time,  when  the  attention  of  the  Rebels  is 
so  engrossed  by  General  Sherman. 

It  is  said  that  they  have  a  force  at  Hardeeville,  the  pickets 
of  which  were  retained  on  the  Union  Causeway  until  a  few 
days  since,  when  some  of  our  troops  crossed  the  river  and 
pushed  them  back.  Concurrently  with  this,  I  caused  the 
Sonoma  to  anchor  so  as  to  sweep  the  ground  in  the  direction 
of  the  causeway. 

The  transfer  of  the  right  wing  (thirty  thousand  men)  to 
Beaufort  will  so  imperil  the  Rebel  force  at  Hardeeville  that  it 
will  be  cut  off  or  dispersed,  if  not  moved  in  season. 

Meanwhile  I  will  send  the  Dai-Ching  to  St.  Helena,  to 
meet  any  want  that  may  arise  in  that  quarter,  while  the 
Mingo  and  Pontiac  will  be  ready  to  act  from  Broad  River. 

The  general  route  of  the  army  will  be  northward;  but  the 
exact  direction  must  be  decided  more  or  less  by  circum- 
stances which  it  may  not  be  possible  to  foresee. 

My  co-operation  will  be  confined  to  assistance  in  attacking 
Charleston  or  in  establishing  communication  at  Georgetown, 
in  case  the  army  pushes  on  without  attacking  Charleston; 
and  time  alone  will  show  which  of  these  will  eventuate. 

The  weather  of  the  winter  first,  and  the  condition  of  the 
ground  in  spring,  would  permit  little  advantage  to  be  derived 
from  the  presence  of  the  army  at  Richmond  until  the  middle 
of  May.  So  that  General  .Sherman  has  no  reason  to  move 
in  haste,  but  can  choose  such  objects  as  he  prefers,  and  take 


462  LIFE  'OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

as  much  time  as  their  attainment  may  demand.  The  Depart- 
ment will  learn  the  objects  in  view  of  General  Sherman  more 
precisely  from  a  letter  addressed  by  him  to  General  Halleck, 
which  he  read  to  me  a  few  days  since. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant,  J.  A.  DAHLGREN, 

Rear   Admiral,    Commanding     South- Atlantic    Blockading 
Squadron. 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss. ,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,   POCOTALIGO,  S.  C.,  January  29,  1865.  ) 

Mzjor-General  J.    G.   FOSTER,  commanding  Department  of 

the  South. 

GENERAL:  I  have  just  received  dispatches  from  General 
Grant,  stating  that  Schofield's  Corps  (the  Twenty-third), 
twenty-one  thousand  strong,  is  ordered  east  from  Tennessee, 
and  will  be  sent  to  Beaufort,  North  Carolina.  That  is  well; 
I  want  that  force  to  secure  a  point  on  the  railroad  about 
Goldsboro'  and  then  to  build  the  railroad  out  to  that  point.  If 
Goldsboro'  be  too  strong  to  carry  by  a  rapid  movement,  then 
a  point  near  the  Neuse,  south  of  Goldsboro',  will  answer,  but 
the  bridge  and  position  about  Kinston,  should  be  held  and 
and  fortified  strong.  The  movement  should  be  masked  by 
the  troops  already  at  Newbern.  Please  notify  General  Palmer 
that  these  troops  are  coming,  and  to  be  prepared  to  receive 
them.  Major-General  Schofield  will  command  in  person, 
and  is  admirably  adapted  for  the  work.  If  it  is  possible,  I 
want  him  to  secure  Goldsboro',  with  the  railroad  back  to 
Morehead  City  and  Wilmington.  As  soon  as  General  Scho- 
field reaches  Fort  Macon,  have  him  to  meet  some  one  of  your 
staff,  to  explain  in  full  the  details  of  the  situation  of  affairs 
with  me;  and  you  can  give  him  the  chief  command  of  all 
troops  at  Cape  Fear  and  in  North  Carolina.  If  he  finds  the 
enemy  has  all  turned  south  against  me,  he  need  not  follow,  but 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  463 

turn  his  attention  against  Raleigh;  if  he  can  secure  Goldsboro' 
and  Wilmington,  it  will  be  as  much  as  I  expect  before  I  have 
passed  the  Santee.  Send  him  all  detachments  of  men  that 
have  come  to  join  my  army.  They  can  be  so  organized  and 
officered  as  to  be  efficient,  for  they  are  nearly  all  old  soldiers 
who  have  been  detached  or  on  furlough.  Until  I  pass  the 
Santee,  you  can  better  use  these  detachments  at  Bull's  Bay, 
Georgetown,  etc. 

I  will  instruct  General  McCallum,  of  the  Railroad  Depart- 
ment, to  take  his  men  up  to  Beaufort,  North  Carolina,  and 
employ  them  on  the  road  out.  I  do  not  know  that  he  can  use 
them  on  any  road  here.  I  did  instruct  him,  while  awaiting 
information  from  North  Carolina,  to  have  them  build  a  good 
trestle-bridge  across  Port  Royal  ferry;  but  I  now  suppose  the 
pontoon-bridge  will  do.  If  you  move  the  pontoons,  be 
sure  to  make  a  good  road  out  to  Garden's  Corners,  and  mark 
it  with  sign-boards — obstructing  the  old  road,  so  that,  should 
I  send  back  any  detachments,  they  would  not  be  misled. 

I  prefer  that  Hatch's  force  should  not  be  materially  weak- 
ened until  I  am  near  Columbia,  when  you  may  be  governed  by 
the  situation  of  affairs  about  Charleston.  If  you  can  break 
the  railroad  between  this  and  Charleston,  then  this  force 
could  be  reduced. 

I  am,  with  respect,  etc., 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding. 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  IN  THE  ) 
FIELD,  NEAR  SAVANNAH,  GA.,  January  19,  1865.  ) 

Hon.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War,  Washington, 

D.  C. 

SIR:  When  you  left  Savannah  a  few  days  ago,  you  forgot 
the  map  which  General  Geary  had  prepared  for  you,  showing 
the  route  by  which  his  division  entered  the  city  of  Savannah, 


464  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

being  the  first  troops  to  occupy  that  city.   I  now  send  it  to  you. 

I  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  also  to  inclose  you  copies 
of  all  my  official  orders  touching  trade  and  intercourse  with 
the  people  of  Georgia,  as  well  as  for  the  establishment  of  the 
negro  settlements. 

Delegations  of  the  people  of  Georgia  continue  to  come  in, 
and  I  am  satisfied  that,  by  judicious  handling  and  by  a  little 
respect  shown  to  their  prejudices,  we  can  create  a  schism  in 
Jeff  Davis'  dominions.  All  that  I  have  conversed  with  real- 
ize the  truth  that  slavery  as  an  institution  is  defunct,  and  the 
only  questions  that  remain  are  what  disposition  shall  be  made 
of  the  negroes  themselves.  I  confess  myself  unable  to  offer 
a  complete  solution  for  these  questions,  and  prefer  to  leave  it 
to  slower  operations  of  time.  We  have  given  the  initiative, 
and  can  afford  to  await  the  working  of  the  experiment. 

As  to  trade-matters,  I  also  think  it  is  our  interest  to  keep 
the  Southern  people  somewhat  dependent  on  the  articles  of 
commerce  to  which  they  have  hitherto  been  accustomed. 
General  Grover  is  now  here,  and  will,  I  think,  be  able  to 
handle  this  matter  judiciously,  and  may  gradually  relax, 
and  invite  cotton  to  come  in  in  large  quantities.  But  at 
first  we  should  manifest  no  undue  anxiety  on  that  score; 
for  the  rebels  would  at  once  make  use  of  it  as  a  power 
against  us.  We  should  assume  a  tone  of  perfect  con- 
tempt for  cotton  and  everything  else,  in  comparison 
with  the  great  object  of  the  war — the  restoration  of  the 
Union,  with  all  its  rights  and  power.  If  the  Rebels 
burn  cotton  as  a  war  measure,  they  simply  play  into  our 
hands  by  taking  away  the  only  product  of  value  they  have 
to  exchange  in  foreign  ports  for  war-ships  and  munitions. 
By  such  a  course,  also,  they  alienate  the  feelings  of  a  large 
class  of  small  farmers  who  look  to  their  little  parcels  of  cot- 
ton to  exchange  for  food  and  clothing  for  their  families.  I 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  465 

hope  the  Government  will  not  manifest  too  much  anxiety  to 
obtain  cotton  in  large  quantities,  and  especially  that  the 
President  will  not  indorse  the  contracts  for  the  purchase  of 
large  quantities  of  cotton.  Several  contracts,  involving  from 
six  to  ten  thousand  bales,  indorsed  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  have  been 
shown  me,  but  were  not  in  such  a  form  as  to  amount  to  an 
order  to  compel  me  to  facilitate  their  execution. 

As  to  Treasury  agents,  and  agents  to  take  charge  of 
confiscated  and  abandoned  property,  whose  salaries  depend 
on  their  fees,  I  can  only  say  that  as  a  general  rule,  they  are 
mischievous  and  disturbing  elements  to  a  military  govern- 
ment, and  it  is  almost  impossible  for  us  to  study  the  law  and 
regulations  so  as  to  understand  fully  their  powers  and  duties. 
I  rather  think  the  Quartermaster's  department  of  the  army 
could  better  fulfill  all  their  duties,  and  accomplish  all  that  is 
aimed  it  by  law.  Yet  on  this  subject  I  will  leave  Generals 
Foster  and  Grover  to  do  the  best  they  can. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 
W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding. 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss. ,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,   SAVANNAH,  GEORGIA,  January  2,  1865.  ) 

Hon.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War,   Washington, 

D.  C. 

SIR:  I  have  just  received  from  Lieutenant-General  Grant 
a  copy  of  that  part  of  your  telegram  to  him  of  December 
26th,  relating  to  cotton,  a  copy  of  which  has  been  immediately 
furnished  to  General  Easton,  chief  quartermaster,  who  will 
be  strictly  governed  by  it. 

I  had  already  been  approached  by  the  consuls  and  half  the 
people  of  Savannah  on  this  cotton  question,  and  my  invari- 
able answer  was  that  all  the  cotton  in  Savannah  was  prize  of 
war,  belonged  to  the  United  States,  and  nobody  should  re- 


466  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

cover  a  bale  of  it  with  my  consent;  that,  as  cotton  had 
been  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  this  war,  it  should  help  pay  its 
expenses;  that  all  cotton  became  tainted  with  treason  from 
the  hour  the  first  act  of  hostility  was  committed  against  the 
United  States  some  time  in  December,  1860;  and  that  no  bill 
of  sale  subsequent  to  that  date  could  convey  title. 

My  orders  were  that  an  officer  of  the  Quartermaster's  De- 
partment, United  States  Army,  might  furnish  the  holder, 
agent,  or  attorney,  a  mere  certificate  of  the  fact  of  seizure, 
with  description  of  the  bales'  marks,  etc.,  the  cotton  then  to 
be  turned  over  to  the  agent  of  the  Treasury  Department,  to 
be  shipped  to  New  York  for  sale.  But,  since  the  receipt  of 
your  dispatch,  I  have  ordered  General  Easton  to  make  the 
shipment  himself  to  the  quartermaster  at  New  York,  where 
you  can  dispose  of  it  at  pleasure.  I  do  not  think  the  Treas- 
ury Department  ought  to  bother  itself  with  the  prizes  or  capt- 
ures of  war. 

Mr.  Barclay,  former  consul  at  New  York,  representing  Mr. 
Molyneux,  former  consul  here,  but  absent  a  long  time, 
called  on  me  with  reference  to  cotton  claimed  by  English  sub- 
jects. He  seemed  amazed  when  I  told  him  I  should  pay  no 
respect  to  consular  certificates,  that  in  no  event  would  I  treat 
an  English  subject  with  more  favor  than  one  of  our  own 
deluded  citizens,  and  that  for  my  part  I  was  unwilling  to 
fight  for  cotton  for  the  benefit  of  Englishmen  openly  engaged 
in  smuggling  arms  and  instruments  of  war  to  kill  us;  that, 
on  the  contrary,  it  would  afford  me  great  satisfaction  to  con- 
duct my  army  to  Nassau,  and  wipe  out  that  nest  of  pirates. 
I  explained  to  him,  however,  that  I  was  not  a  diplomatic 
agent  of  the  General  Government  of  the  United  States,  but 
that  my  opinion,  so  frankly  expressed,  was  that  of  a  soldier, 
which  it  would  be  well  for  him  to  heed.  It  appeared,  also, 
that  he  owned  a  plantation  on  the  line  of  investment  of  Sa- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  467 

vannah,  which,  of  course,  was  pillaged,  and  for  which  he  ex- 
pected me  to  give  some  certificate  entitling  him  to  indem- 
nification, which  I  declined  emphatically. 

I  have  adopted  in  Savannah  rules  concerning  property — 
severe,  but  just — founded  upon  the  laws  of  nations  and  the 
practice  of  civilized  governments,  and  am  clearly  of  opinion 
that  we  should  claim  all  the  belligerent  rights  over  conquered 
countries,  that  the  people  may  realize  the  truth  that  war  is 
no  child's  play. 

I  embrace  in  this  a  copy  of  a  letter,  dated  December  31, 
1864,  in  answer  to  one  from  Solomon  Cohen  (a  rich  lawyer) 
to  General  Blair,  his  personal  friend,  as  follows: 

"Major-General  F.  P  BLAIR,  commanding  Seventeenth 
Army  Corps. 

"GENERAL:  Your  note,  inclosing  Mr.  Cohen's  of  this  date, 
is  received,  and  I  answer  frankly  through  you  his  inquiries. 

"  i .  No  one  can  practice  law  as  an  attorney  in  the  United 
States  without  acknowledging  the  supremacy  of  our  Govern- 
ment. If  I  am  not  in  error,  an  attorney  is  as  much  an  officer 
of  the  court  as  the  clerk,  and  it  would  be  a  novel  thing  in  a 
government  to  have  a  court  to  administer  law  which  denied 
the  supremacy  of  the  government  itself. 

"2.  No  one  will  be  allowed  the  privileges  of  a  merchant — 
or,  rather,  to  trade,  is  a  privilege  which  no  one  should  seek 
of  the  Government  without  in  like  manner  acknowledging  its 
supremacy. 

"3-  If  Mr.  Cohen  remains  in  Savannah  as  a  denizen,  his 
property,  real  and  personal,  will  not  be  disturbed  unless  its 
temporary  use  be  necessary  for  the  military  authorities  of  the 
city.  The  title  to  property  will  not  be  disturbed  in  any  event, 
until  adjudicated  by  the  courts  of  the  United  States. 

"4.   If  Mr.  Cohen  leaves  Savannah  under  my  Special  Order 


468  LIFE    OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

No.  143,  it  is  a  public  acknowledgment  that  he  'adheres  to 
the  enemies  of  the  United  States, '  and  all  his  property  be- 
comes forfeited  to  the  United  States.  But,  as  a  matter  of 
favor,  he  will  be  allowed  to  carry  with  him  clothing  and  furni- 
ture for  the  use  of  himself,  his  family,  and  servants,  and  will 
be  transported  within  the  enemy's  lines,  but  not  by  way  of 
Port  Royal. 

"These  rules  will  apply  to  all  parties,  and  from  them  no 
exception  will  be  made. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  general,  your  obedient  servant, 
"W.  T.  SHERMAN,   Major-General" 

This  letter  was  in  answer  to  specific  inquiries;  it  is  clear, 
and  covers  all  the  points,  and,  should  I  leave  before  my  orders 
are  executed,  I  will  endeavor  to  impress  upon  my  successor, 
General  Foster,  their  wisdom  and  propriety. 

I  hope  the  course  I  have  taken  in  these  matters  will  meet 
your  approbation,  and  that  the  President  will  not  refund  to 
parties  claiming  cotton  or  other  property,  without  the  strong- 
est evidence  of  loyalty  and  friendship  on  the  part  of  the 
claimant,  or  unless  some  other  positive  end  is  to  be  gained. 
I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding, 

On  the  ist  of  February  the  army  for  the  campaign  from 
Savannah  northward  was  composed  of  two  wings,  com- 
manded by  Major-Generals  Howard  and  Slocum,  and  was 
practically  the  same  that  had  inarched  from  Atlanta  to  Savan- 
nah. The  same  general  orders  were  in  force,  and  this  cam- 
paign may  be  classed  as  a  part  of  the  former. 

The  right  wing  was  grouped  at  or  near  Pocotaligo,  South 
Carolina,  with  its  wagons  of  food,  ammunition,  and  forage, 
only  waiting  for  the  left  wing,  which  was  detained  by  the 
flood  in  the  Savannah  River.  It  was  composed  as  follows: 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  469 

FIFTEENTH  CORPS,  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  A.  LOGAN. 

First  Division,  Brigadier-General  Charles  R.  Woods;  Sec- 
ond Division,  Major-General  W.  B.  Hazen;  Third  Division, 
Brigadier-General  John  E.  Smith;  Fourth  Division,  Briga- 
dier-General John  M.  Corse.  Artillery  brigade,  eighteen 
guns,  Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  H.  Ross,  First  Michigan  Artil- 
lery. 

SEVENTENTH  CORPS,  MAJOR-GENERAL  FRANK  P.  BLAIR,  JR. 

First  Division,  Major-General  Joseph  A.  Mower;  Second 
Division,  Brigadier-General  M.  F.  Force;  Fourth  Division, 
Brigadier-General  Giles  A.  Smith.  Artillery  brigade,  four- 
teen guns,  Major  A.  C.  Waterhouse,  First  Illinois  Artillery. 

The  left  wing,  with  Corse's  division  and  Kilpatrick's  cav- 
alry, was  near  Sister's  Ferry,  forty  miles  above  Savannah, 
engaged  in  crossing  the  river.  It  was  composed  as  follows: 

FOURTEENTH  CORPS,  MAJOR-GENERAL  JEFF.  C.  DAVIS. 

First  Division,  Brigadier-General  W.  P.  Carlin;  Second 
Division,  Brigadier-General  John  D.  Morgan;  Third  Divis- 
ion, Brigadier-General  A.  Baird.  Artillery  brigade,  sixteen 
guns,  Major  Charles  Houghtaling,  First  Illinois  Artillery. 

TWENTIETH  CORPS,    BRIGADIER-GENERAL  A.   S.   WILLIAMS. 

First  Division,  Brigadier-General  N.  I.  Jackson;  Second 
Division,  Brigadier-General  J.  W.  Geary;  Third  Division, 
Brigadier-General  W.  T.  Ward.  Artillery  brigade,  sixteen 
guns,  Major  J.  A.  Reynolds,  First  New  York  Artillery. 

CAVALRY  DIVISION,  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  JUDSON  KILPATRICK. 

First  Brigade,  Colonel  T.  J.  Jordan,  Ninth  Pennsylvania 
Cavalry;  Second  Brigade,  Colonel  S.  D.  Atkins,  Ninety- 


47O  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

second  Illinois  Volunteers;  Third  Brigade,  Colonel  George 
E.  Spencer,  First  Alabama  Cavalry.  One  battery  of  four  guns. 

The  real  strength  of  the  army  was  at  the  time  sixty  thou- 
sand and  seventy-nine  men,  and  sixty-eight  guns.  The  trains 
were  made  up  of  nearly  twenty-five  hundred  wagons,  with 
six  mules  to  each  wagon,  and  six  hundred  ambulances,  with 
two  horses  each.  The  contents  of  the  wagons  embraced  an 
ample  supply  of  ammunition  for  a  great  battle;  provisions  for 
twenty  days,  but  depending  largely  for  fresh  meat  on  beeves 
driven  on  the  hoof  and  such  cattle,  hogs,  and  poultry,  t3  be 
gathered  along  the  line  of  march. 

The  Confederate  forces  still  occupied  Charleston  and 
Augusta,  but  their  garrisons  could  make  no  effective  resistance 
in  the  field  to  our  veterans  flushed  with  victory,  and  march- 
ing "homeward."  General  Sherman  felt  absolute  confidence 
in  his  troops,  and  was  amused  by  the  bravado  of  General 
Wade  Hampton,  who  avowed  his  purpose  of  driving  out  the 
invader  who  had  desecrated  the  sacred  soil  of  South  Carolina. 
The  boys  as  they  marched  along  found  very  little  in  the  soil 
that  seemed  sacred,  and  less  in  the  action  of  the  Rebel  com- 
manders to  enttile  them  to  respect.  We  were  bound  for  Golds- 
boro',  and  General  Sherman  had  provided  for  such  co-opera- 
tions with  the  navy  as  to  secure  for  the  army  safe  points  along 
the  coast  in  case  of  serious  reverses.  On  the  5th  of  February 
we  were  at  Beaufort  Bridge,  and  good  progress  was  reported 
to  General  Sherman  from  other  divisions.  There  was  ex- 
pected severe  resistance  when  the  army  should  strike  the 
railroad  at  Bamberg,  by  which  the  enemy  held  communica- 
tion with  the  two  cities,  Augusta  and  Charleston.  But  when 
the  army  approached  it  was  found  that  "Sherman's  bum- 
mers" had  taken  the  road  and  awaited  the  approach  of  the 
generals  to  give  them  possession.  It  was  not  considered 
surprising  to  the  army — those  "bummers"  would  take  most 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN,  471 

anything  in  reach,  and  never  stopped  at  suck  a  little  thing  as 
a  railroad-  It  did  not  take  long  for  the  South  Carolina  rail- 
road to  become  a  mass  of  twisted  rails  under  the  hands  of  the 
veterans,  who  seemed  as  much  at  home  destroying  as  build- 
ing roads.  . 

After  a  delay  of  four  days  we  were  pushing  on  toward  Co- 
lumbia, a  portion  of  the  cavalry  making  a  demonstration  to- 
ward Aiken,  as  if  we  were  really  going  toward  Augusta.  On  the 
1 6th  the  Fifteenth  Corps  reached  a  point  opposite  Columbia 
across  Broad  River.  In  his  retreat  toward  the  city,  Butler's 
cavalry  had  burned  the  bridge.  There  has  been  some  criti- 
cism regarding  the  capture  and  burning  of  Columbia,  but  it 
may  be  answered  by  the  following  brief  statement  from  Gen- 
eral Sherman: 

"Captain  De  Gres  had  a  section  of  his  twenty-pound  Parrott 
guns  unlimbered,  firing  into  the  town.  I  asked  him  what  he 
was  firing  for;  he  said  he  could  see  some  Rebel  cavalry  occasion- 
ally at  the  intersections  of  the  streets,  and  he  had  an  idea  that 
there  was  a  large  force  of  infantry  concealed  on  the  opposite 
bank,  lying  low,  in  case  we  should  attempt  to  cross  over 
directly  into  the  town.  I  instructed  him  not  to  fire  any  more 
into  the  town,  but  consented  to  his  bursting  a  few  shells 
near  the  depot,  to  scare  away  the  negroes  who  were  appro- 
priating the  bags  of  corn  and  meal  which  we  wanted;  also  to 
fire  three  shots  at  the  unoccupied  State  House.  I  stood  by 
and  saw  these  fired,  and  then  all  firing  ceased.  Although  this 
matter  of  firing  into  Columbia  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
abuse  and  investigation,  I  have  yet  to  hear  of  any  single  per- 
son having  been  killed  in  Columbia  by  our  cannon.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  night  before,  when  Woods'  division  was  in 
camp  in  the  open  fields  at  Little  Congare©,  it  was  shelled  all 
night  by  a  Rebel  battery  from  the  other  side  of  the  river. 
This  provoked  me  much  at  the  time,  for  it  was  wanton  mis- 


47*  L1FE   OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN, 

chief,  as  Generals  Beauregard  and  Hampton  must  have  been 
convinced  that  they  could  not  prevent  our  entrance  into 
Columbia.  I  have  always  contended  that  I  would  have  been 
justified  in  retaliating  for  this  unnecessary  act  of  war,  but 
did  not,  though  I  always  characterized  it  as  it  deserved." 

On  the  I /th  our  army  marched  into  Columbia,  Wade 
Hampton  and  General  Butler  having  concluded  to  postpone 
their  dire  punishment  on  us  for  having  soiled  the  sacred  dirt, 
or  dirtied  the  sacred  soil  of  the  State  which  had  produced 
Preston  Brooks.  Of  the  burning  of  Columbia,  which  has 
since  been  the  basis  oi  international  dispute,  General  Sherman 
makes  a  clear  record,  which  during  the  investigation,  was 
completely  sustained  by  many  soldiers  and  officers: 

"Having  walked  over  much  of  the  suburbs  of  Columbia  in 
the  afternoon,  being  tired,  I  lay  down  on  a  bed  in  Blanton  Dun- 
can's house  to  rest.  Soon  after  dark  I  became  conscious  that 
a  bright  light  was  shining  on  the  walls,  and,  calling  some  one 
of  my  staff  (Major  Nichols,  I  think)  to  inquire  the  cause,  he 
said  there  seemed  to  be  a  house  on  fire  down  about  the  market- 
house.  The  same  high  wind  still  prevailed,  and,  fearing  the 
consequences,  I  bade  him  go  in  person  to  see  if  the  provost- 
guard  were  doing  its  duty.  He  soon  returned  and  reported 
that  the  block  of  buildings  directly  opposite  the  burning  cot- 
ton of  that  morning  was  on  fire,  and  that  it  was  spreading; 
but  he  had  found  General  Woods  on  the  ground,  with  plenty 
of  men,  trying  to  put  the  fire  out,  or  at  least  to  prevent  its 
extension.  The  fire  continued  to  increase,  and  the  whole 
heavens  became  lurid.  I  dispatched  messenger  after  messen- 
ger to  Generals  Howard,  Logan,  and  Woods,  and  received 
from  them  repeated  assurances  that  all  was  being  done  that 
could  be  done,  but  that  the  high  wind  was  spreading  the  flames 
beyond  all  control.  These  general  officers  were  on  the  ground 
all  night,  and  Hazen's  division  had  been  brought  into  the 


LIFE  OF   GENERAL  SHERMAN.  473 

city  to  assist  Woods'  division,  already  there.  About  eleven 
o'clock  at  night  I  went  down-town  myself,  Colonel  Dayton 
with  me;  we  walked  to  Mr.  Simons'  house,  from  which  I 
could  see  the  flames  rising  high  in  the  air,  and  could  hear  the 
roaring  of  the  fire.  I  advised  the  ladies  to  move  to  my 
headquarters,  had  our  own  headquarter  wagons  hitched  up, 
and  their  effects  carried  there,  as  a  place  of  greater  safety. 
The  whole  air  was  full  of  sparks  and  of  flying  masses  of  cot- 
ton, shingles,  etc.,  some  of  which  were  carried  four  or  five 
blocks,  and  started  new  fires.  The  men  seemed  generally 
under  good  control,  and  certainly  labored  hard  to  girdle  the 
fire,  to  prevent  its  spreading;  but,  so  long  as  the  high  wind 
prevailed,  it  was  simply  beyond  human  possibility.  Fort- 
unately, about  3  or  4  A.  M.,  the  wind  moderated,  and  grad- 
ually the  fire  was  got  under  control;  but  it  had  burned  out 
the  very  heart  of  the  city,  embracing  several  churches,  the 
old  State  House,  and  the  school  or  asylum  of  that  very  Sister 
of  Chanty  who  had  appealed  to  me  for  my  personal  protec- 
tion. Nickerson's  Hotel,  in  which  several  of  my  staff  were 
quartered,  was  burned  down,  but  the  houses  occupied  by  my- 
self, Generals  Howard  and  Logan,  were  not  burned  at  all. 
Many  of  the  people  thought  that  this  fire  was  deliberately 
planned  and  executed.  This  is  not  true.  It  was  accidental, 
and  in  my  judgment  began  with  the  cotton  which  General 
Hampton's  men  had  set  fire  to,  on  leaving  the  city  (whether 
by  his  orders  or  not  is  not  material),  which  fire  was  partially 
subdued  early  in  the  day  by  our  men;  but  when  night  came 
the  high  wind  fanned  it  again  into  full  blaze,  carried  it  against 
the  frame  houses,  which  caught  like  tinder,  and  soon  spread 
beyond  our  control." 

From  Columbia  to  Fayetteville  our  march  was  scarcely 
n.ore  impeded  than  if  war  had  ceased.  The  Confederates 
were  seeking  the  proper  place  for  the  infliction  of  their  terri- 


474  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

ble  revenge,  and  we  were  quite  ready  to  afford  them  the  oppor- 
tunity. At  Fayetteville  we  found  a  very  honest,  God-fearing 
population,  and  as  our  arrival  was  on  Sunday,  they  were  en- 
gaged in  their  houses  of  worship,  praying  faithfully  for  the 
success  of  the  Rebel  arms.  From  this  point  General  Sherman 
dispatched  the  following  reports: 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  FAYETTEVILLE,  N.C.,  Sunday •, Me h.  /2,  '65.  ) 

"Hon.  E.  M.   STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

"DEAR  SIR:  I  know  you  will  be  pleased  to  hear  that  my 
army  has  reached  this  point,  and  has  opened  communication 
with  Wilmington.  A  tug-boat  came  up  this  morning,  and 
will  start  back  at  6  p.  M. 

"I  have  written  a  letter  to  General  Grant,  the  substance  of 
which  he  will  doubtless  communicate,  and  it  must  suffice  for 
me  to  tell  you  what  I  know  will  give  you  pleasure — that  I 
have  done  all  that  I  proposed,  and  the  fruits  seem  to  me 
ample  for  the  time  employed.  Charleston,  Georgetown,  and 
Wilmington  are  incidents,  while  the  utter  demolition  of  the 
railroad  system  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  utter  destruction 
of  the  enemy's  arsenals  of  Columbia,  Cheraw,  and  Fayette- 
ville, are  the  principals  of  the  movement.  These  points  were  re- 
garded as  inaccessible  to  us,  and  now  no  place  in  the  Confed- 
eracy is  safe  against  the  army  of  the  West.  Let  Lee  hold  on 
to  Richmond,  and  we  will  destroy  his  country,  and  then  of 
what  use  is  Richmond?  He  must  come  out  and  fight  us  on 
open  ground,  and  for  that  we  must  ever  be  ready.  Let  him 
stick  behind  his  parapets,  and  he  will  perish. 

"I  remember  well  what  you  asked  me,  and  think  I  am  on 
the  right  road,  though  a  long  one.  My  army  is  as  united  and 
cheerful  as  ever,  and  as  full  of  confidence  in  itself  and  its  lead- 
ers. It  is  utterly  impossible  for  me  to  enumerate  what  we 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN.  475 

have  done,  but  I  inclose  a  slip  just  handed  me,  which  is  but 
partial.  At  Columbia  and  Cheraw  we  destroyed  nearly  all 
the  gunpowder  and  cartridges  which  the  Confederacy  had  in 
this  part  of  the  country.  This  arsenal  is  in  fine  order,  and 
has  been  much  enlarged.  I  cannot  leave  a  detachment  to  hold 
it,  therefore  shall  burn  it,  blow  it  up  with  gunpowder,  and 
then  with  rams  knock  down  its  walls.  I  take  it  for  granted 
the  United  States  will  never  again  trust  North  Carolina  with 
an  arsenal  to  appropriate  at  her  pleasure. 

"Hoping  that  fortune  may  still  attend  my  army,  I  re- 
main, your  servant, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  FAYETTEVILLE,  N.  C.,  March  72, 1865.  \ 

"Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  GRANT,  commanding  United 
States  Army,  City  Point,  Virginia. 

"DEAR  GENERAL:  We  reached  this  place  yesterday  at 
noon;  Hardee,  as  usual,  retreating  across  Cape  Fear,  burn- 
ing his  bridges;  but  our  pontoons  will  be  up  to-day,  and  with 
as  little  delay  as  possible  I  will  be  after  him  toward  Golds- 
boro'. 

"A  tug  has  just  come  up  from  Wilmington,  and  before  I 
get  off  from  here,  I  hope  to  get  from  Wilmington  some  shoes 
and  stockings,  sugar,  coffee,  and  flour.  We  are  abundantly 
supplied  with  all  else,  having  in  a  measure  lived  off  the  coun- 
try. 

"The  army  is  in  splendid  health,  condition,  and  spirits, 
though  we  have  had  foul  weather,  and  roads  that  would  have 
stopped  travel  to  almost  any  other  body  of  men  I  ever  heard 
of. 

"Our  march  was  substantially  what  I  designed — straighten 
Columbia,  feigning  on  Branchville  and  Augusta.  We  de- 


476  LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

stroyed,  in  passing,  the  railroad  from  the  Edisto  nearly  up  to 
Aiken;  again,  from  Orangeburg  to  the  Congaree;  again,  from 
Columbia  down  to  Kingsville  on  the  Wateree,  and  up  toward 
Charlotte  as  far  as  the  Chester  line;  thence  we  turned  east 
on  Cheraw  and  Fayetteville.  At  Columbia  we  destroyed  im- 
mense arsenals  and  railroad  establishments,  among  which 
were  forty-three  cannon.  At  Cheraw  we  found  also  machin- 
ery and  material  of  war  sent  from  Charleston,  among  which 
were  twenty-five  guns  and  thirty-six  hundred  barrels  of  pow- 
der; and  here  we  find  about  twenty  guns  and  a  magnificent 
United  States  arsenal. 

"We  cannot  afford  to  leave  detachments,  and  I  shall  there- 
fore destroy  this  valuable  arsenal,  so  the  enemy  shall  not  have 
its  use;  and  the  United  States  should  never  again  confide 
such  valuable  property  to  a  people  who  have  betrayed  a  trust. 

"I  could  leave  here  to-morrow,  but  want  to  clear  my  col- 
umns of  the  vast  crowd  of  refugees  and  negroes  that  encumber 
us.  Some  I  will  send  down  the  river  in  boats,  and  the  rest 
to  Wilmington  by  land,  under  small  escort,  as  soon  as  we 
cross  Cape  Fear  River. 

"I  hope  you  have  not  been  uneasy  about  us,  and  that  the 
fruits  of  this  march  will  be  appreciated.  It  had  to  be  made 
not  only  to  destroy  the  valuable  depots  by  the  way,  but  for 
its  incidents  in  the  necessary  fall  of  Charleston,  Georgetown, 
and  Wilmington.  If  I  can  now  add  Goldsboro'  without  too 
much  cost,  I  will  be  in  a  position  to  aid  you  materially  in  the 
spring  campaign. 

"Jos.  Johnston  may  try  to  interpose  between  me  here  and 
Schofield  about  Newbern;  but  I  think  he  will  not  try  that, 
but  concentrate  his  scattered  armies  at  Raleigh,  and  I  will  go 
straight  at  him  as  soon  as  I  get  our  men  reclothed  and  our 
wagons  reloaded. 

"Keep   everybody    busy,    and   let   Stoneman  push  toward 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN.  477 

Greensboro'  or  Charlotte  from  Knoxville;   even  a  feint  in  that 
quarter  will  be  most  important. 

"The  railroad  from  Charlotte  to  Danville  is  all  that  is  left  to 
the  enemy,  and  it  will  not  do  for  me  to  go  there,  on  account 
of  the  red-clay  hills,  which  are  impassable  to  wheels  in  wet 
weather. 

"I  expect  to  make  a  junction  with  General  Schofieldin  ten 
days.  "Yours  truly, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General" 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  FAYETTEVILLE,  N.  C.  March  12,  1865.  ) 

"Major-General  TERRY,  commanding  United  States  forces, 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina. 

"GENERAL:  I  have  just  received  your  message  by  the 
tug  which  left  Wilmington  at  2  p.  M.  yesterday,  which 
arrived  here  without  trouble.  The  scout  who  brought  me 
your  cipher  message  started  back  last  night  with  my  answers, 
which  are  superseded  by  the  fact  of  your  opening  the  river. 

"General  Howard  just  reports  that  he  has  secured  one  of  the 
enemy's  steamboats  below  the  city,  General  Slocum  will  try 
to  secure  two  others  known  to  be  above,  and  we  will  load 
them  with  refugees  (white  and  black)  who  have  clung  to  our 
skirts,  impeded  our  movements,  and  consumed  our  food. 

"We  have  swept  the  country  well  from  Savannah  to  here, 
and  the  men  and  animals  are  in  fine  condition.  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  foul  weather,  I  would  have  caught  Hardee  at 
Cheraw  or  here;  but  at  Columbia,  Cheraw,  and  here,  we 
have  captured  immense  stores,  and  destroyed  machinery, 
guns,  ammunition,  and  property  of  inestimable  value  to  our 
enemy.  At  all  points  he  has  fled  from  us,  '  standing  not  on 
the  order  of  his  going. ' 

"The  people  of  South  Carolina,  instead  of  feeding  Lee's 
army,  will  now  call  on  Lee  to  feed  them. 


478  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"I  want  you  to  send  me  all  the  shoes,  stockings,  drawers, 
sugar,  coffee,  and  flour  you  can  spare;  finish  the  loads  with 
oats  or  corn.  Have  the  boats  escorted,  and  let  them  run 
at  night  at  any  risk.  We  must  not  give  time  for  Jos.  Johnston 
to  concentrate  at  Goldsboro'.  We  cannot  prevent  his  con- 
centrating at  Raleigh,  but  he  shall  have  no  rest.  I  want  Gen- 
eral Schofield  to  go  on  with  his  railroad  from  Newbern  as  far 
as  he  can,  and  you  should  do  the  same  from  Wilmington.  If 
we  can  get  the  roads  to  and  secure  Goldsboro'  by  April  loth, 
it  will  be  soon  enough;  but  every  day  now  is  worth  a  million 
of  dollars.  I  can  whip  Jos.  Johnston,  provided  he  does  not 
catch  one  of  my  corps  in  flank,  and  I  will  see  that  the  army 
marches  hence  to  Goldsboro'  in  compact  form. 

"I  must  rid  our  army  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  thousand 
useless  mouths;  as  many  to  go  down  to  Cape  Fear  as  possi- 
ble, and  the  rest  to  go  in  vehicles  or  on  captured  horses  via 
Clinton  to  Wilmington. 

"I  thank  you  for  the  energetic  action  that  has  marked  your 
course,  and  shall  be  most  happy  to  meet  you.  I  am,  truly 
your  friend,  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General.'" 

At  this  point  also  General  Sherman  found  a  copy  of  the 
New  York  Tribune  fully  a  month  later  date  than  he  had  seen, 
and  in  it  found  news  of  our  movements  which  had  been  read 
by  the  Confederate  authorities,  thus  neutralizing  Sherman's 
efforts  to  deceive  the  enemy  as  to  our  intentions. 

General  Hardee  had  been  annoying  the  army  in  its  progress 
toward  Goldsboro',  and  one  night  Brigadier-General  Rhett, 
the  commander  of  his  rear  guard,  was  captured  and  brought 
to  headquarters.  The  young  officer  felt  extremely  mortified 
at  being  captured  without  a  fight,  but  he  might  have  saved 
himself  all  feeling  on  this  subject,  as  the  next  day  we 
captured  his  entire  brigade  in  almost  a  similar  manner.  At 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  479 

Averysboro'  Hardee  had  taken  a  position  in  which  he  evi- 
dently determined  to  make  a  stand,  but  General  Sherman  sent 
Generals  Slocum  and  Fitzpatrick  to  attend  the  matter,  and 
the  battle  of  Averysboro'  resulted  in  a  victory  for  our  troops. 

On  the  eighteenth  we  were  within  twenty-seven  miles  of 
Goldsboro',  and  during  the  day  could  hear  sounds  of  cannonad- 
ing in  the  direction  of  General  Slocum' s  army,  and  later  found 
that  the  General  had  run  up  against  the  whole  of  Johnston's 
army.  But  General  Sherman  received  the  news  with  com- 
posure. As  he  stated  to  one  of  his  staff,  "There  is  no  force 
in  the  field  that  can  seriously  disturb  this  army;  it  is  too 
near  home  to  be  conquered."  Sherman  sent  back  orders  to 
have  Slocum  fight  defensively  till  reinforcements  could  be 
brought  up.  He  did  not  want  to  risk  a  general  engagement, 
because  he  had  been  on  so  long  a  march  that  our  provisions 
were  well-nigh  exhausted.  Referring  to  this  point  in  his 
marches,  Sherman  pays  a  just  tribute  to  a  subordinate — 
General  Mower — who  had  in  his  impetuosity  broken  through 
Johnston's  army,  and  almost  destroyed  it,  when  he  was 
ordered  back  by  General  Sherman  in  accordance  with  his 
intention  of  making  no  general  battle.  General  Sherman 
says: 

"I  think  I  made  a  mistake  there,  and  should  rapidly  have 
followed  Mower's  lead  with  the  whole  of  the  right  wing, 
which  would  have  brought  on  a  general  battle,  and  it  could 
not  have  resulted  otherwise  than  successfully  to  us,  by  reason 
of  our  vastly  superior  numbers;  but  at  the  moment,  for  the 
reasons  given,  I  preferred  to  make  junction  with  Generals 
Terry  and  Schofield,  before  engaging  Johnston's  army,  the 
strength  of  which  was  utterly  unknown.  The  next  day 
he  was  gone,  and  had  retreated  on  Smithfield;  and,  the  roads 
all  being  clear,  our  army  moved  to  Goldsboro. '  The  heavi- 
est fighting  at  Bentonsville  was  on  the  first  day,  viz.,  the 


480  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

when  Johnston's  army  struck  the  head  of  Slocum's  columns, 
knocking  back  Carlin's  division;  but  as  soon  as  General 
Slocum  had  brought  up  the  rest  of  the  Fourteenth  Corps  into 
line,  and  afterward  the  Twentieth  on  its  left,  he  received  and 
repulsed  all  attacks,  and  held  his  ground  as  ordered,  to  await 
the  coming  back  of  the  right  wing.  His  loss,  as  reported, 
was  nine  officers  and  one  hundred  and  forty-five  men  killed, 
eight  hundred  and  sixteen  wounded,  and  two  hundred  and 
twenty-six  missing.  He  reported  having  buried  of  the  Rebel 
dead  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven,  and  captured  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight  prisoners. 

uThe  loss  of  the  right  wing  was  two  officers  and  thirty-five 
men  killed,  twelve  officers  and  two  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
men  wounded,  and  seventy  missing.  General  Howard  re- 
ported that  he  had  buried  one  hundred  of  the  Rebel  dead,  and 
had  captured  twelve  hundred  and  eighty-seven  prisoners. 

•Sf-K-X-**-**-** 

"I  was  close  up  with  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  on  the  2Oth 
and  2  ist,  considered  the  fighting  as  mere  skirmishing,  and 
know  that  my  orders  were  to  avoid  a  general  battle,  till  we 
could  be  sure  of  Goldsboro',  and  of  opening  up  a  new  base 
of  supply.  With  the  knowledge  now  possessed  of  his  small 
force,  of  course  I  committed  an  error  in  not  overwhelming 
Johnston's  army  on  the  2ist  of  March,  1865.  But  I  was 
content  then  to  let  him  go,  and  on  the  22d  of  March  rode  to 
Cox's  Bridge,  where  I  met  General  Terry,  with  his  two  divis- 
ions of  the  Tenth  Corps;  and  the  next  day  we  rode  into 
Goldsboro',  where  I  found  General  Schofield  with  the  Twenty- 
third  Corps,  thus  effecting  a  perfect  junction  of  all  the  army 
at  that  point,  as  originally  contemplated.  During  the  23d 
and  24th  the  whole  army  was  assembled  at  Goldsboro';  Gen- 
eral Terry's  two  divisions  encamped  at  Faison's  Depot  to  the 
South,  and  General  Kilpatrick's  cavalry  at  Mount  Olive  Sta- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  481 

tion,  near  him,  and  there  we  all  rested,  while  I  directed  my 
special  attention  to  replenishing  the  army  for  the  next  and 
last  stage  of  the  campaign.  Colonel  W.  W.  Wright  had 
been  so  indefatigable  that  the  Newbern  Railroad  was  done, 
and  a  locomotive  arrived  in  Goldsboro'  on  the  25th  of  March. 
"Thus  was  concluded  one  of  the  longest  and  most  impor- 
tant ma-rcnds  ever  made  by  an  organized  army  in  a  civilized 
country.  The  distance  from  Savannah  to  Goldsboro  is  four 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles,  and  the  route  traversed  em- 
braced five  large  navigable  rivers,  viz. ,  the  Edisto,  Broad, 
Catawba,  Pedee,  and  Cape  Fear,  at  either  of  which  a  com- 
paratively small  force,  well  handled,  should  have  made  the 
passage  most  difficult,  if  not  impossible. 

»..•;  '4  '•"#  :      •;'#        .•*          '#••'*»•'# 

"On  reaching  Goldsboro'  I  learned  from  General  Schofield 
all  the  details  of  his  operations  about  Wilmington  and 
Newbern;  also  of  the  fight  of  the  Twenty-third  Corps  about 
Kinston,  with  General  Bragg.  I  also  found  Lieutenant  Dunn, 
of  General  Grant's  staff,  awaiting  me,  with  the  General's 
letter  of  February /th,  covering  instructions  to  Generals  Scho- 
field and  Thomas;  and  his  letter  of  March  1 6th,  in  answer  to 
mine  of  the  I2th,  from  Fayetteville. 

"These  are  all  given  here  to  explain  the  full  reasons  for  the 
events  of  the  war  then  in  progress,  with  two  or  three  letters 
from  myself,  to  fill  out  the  picture." 

COPIES  OF  LETTERS  AND  DISPATCHES. 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  February  7,  1865.  ( 

Major-General^.  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding  Military  Divis- 
ion of  the  Mississippi. 

GENERAL:  Without  much  expectation  of  it  reaching  you 
in  time  to  be  of  any  service,  I  have  mailed  to  you  copies  of 


482  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

instructions  to  Schofield  and  Thomas.  I  have  informed  Scho- 
field  by  telegraph  of  the  departure  of  Mahone's  division, 
south  from  the  Petersburg  front.  These  troops  marched 
down  the  Weldon  road,  and  as  they  apparently  went  with- 
out baggage,  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  have  not  returned.  I 
was  absent  from  here  when  they  left.  Just  returned  yes- 
terday morning  from  Cape  Fear  River.  I  went  there  to 
determine  whether  Schofield's  Corps  had  better  go  to  operate 
against  Wilmington  and  Goldsboro'.  The  instructions  with 
this  will  inform  you  of  the  conclusion  arrived  at. 

Schofield  was  with  me,  and  the  plan  of  the  movement 
against  Wilmington  fully  determined  before  we  started  back; 
hence  the  absence  of  more  detailed  instructions  to  him.  He 
will  land  one  division  at  Smithville,  and  move  rapidly  up  the 
south  side  of  the  river,  and  secure  the  Wilmington  &  Char- 
lotte Railroad,  and  with  his  pontoon  train  cross  over 
to  the  island  south  of  the  city,  if  he  can.  With  the  aid 
of  the  gun-boats,  there  is  no  doubt  but  this  move  will  drive 
the  enemy  from  their  position  eight  miles  east  of  the  city, 
either  back  to  their  line,  or  away  altogether.  There  will  be 
a  large  force  on  the  north  bank  of  Cape  Fear  river,  ready  to 
follow  up  and  invest  the  garrison,  if  they  should  go  inside. 

The  railroads  of  North  Carolina  are  four  feet,  eight  and 
one-half  inches  gauge.  I  have  sent  large  parties  of  railroad 
men  there  to  build  them  up,  and  have  ordered  stock  to  run 
them.  We  have  abundance  of  it  idle  from  non-use  of  the 
Virginia  roads.  I  have  taken  every  precaution  to  have  sup- 
plies ready  for  you  wherever  you  may  turn  up.  I  did  this  be- 
fore when  you  left  Atlanta,  and  regret  that  they  did  not  reach 
you  promptly  when  you  reached  salt  water. 

•*#-#-*#-*-5f## 

Alexander  Stephens,  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  and  Judge  Camp- 
bell are  now  at  my  headquarters,  very  desirous  of  going  to 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  483 

Washington  to  see  Mr.  Lincoln,  informally,  on  the  subject  of 
peace.  The  peace  feeling  within  the  Rebel  lines  is  gaining 
ground  rapidly.  This,  however,  should  not  relax  our  ener- 
gies in  the  least,  but  should  stimulate  us  to  greater  activity. 
I  have  received  your  very  kind  letters,  in  which  you  say  you 
would  decline,  or  are  opposed  to,  promotion.  No  one 
would  be  more  pleased  at  your  advancement  than  I,  and  if 
you  should  be  placed  in  my  position,  and  I  put  subordinate, 
it  would  not  change  our  personal  relations  in  the  least.  I 
would  make  the  same  exertions  to  support  you  that  you  have 
ever  done  to  support  me,  and  would  do  all  in  my  power  to 
make  our  cause  win.  Yours  truly, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  January  31,  1865.  1 

Major-General  G.  H.  THOMAS,  commanding  Army  of  the 
Cumberland. 

GENERAL:  With  this  I  send  you  a  letter  from  General 
Sherman.  At  the  time  of  writing  it,  General  Sherman  was 
not  informed  of  the  depletion  of  your  command  by  my  orders. 
It  will  be  impossible  at  present  for  you  to  move  south  as  he 
contemplated,  with  the  force  of  infantry  indicated. 

General  Slocum  is  advised  before  this  of  the  changes  made, 
and  that  for  the  winter  you  will  be  on  the  defensive.  I  think, 
however,  an  expedition  from  East  Tennessee,  under  General 
Stoneman,  might  penetrate  South  Carolina,  well  down  to- 
ward Columbia,  destroying  the  railroad  and  military  resources 
of  the  country,  thus  visiting  a  portion  of  the  State  which  will 
not  be  reached  by  Sherman's  forces.  He  might  also  be  able 
to  return  to  East  Tennessee  by  way  of  Salisbury,  North  Caro- 
lina, thus  releasing  some  of  our  prisoners  of  war  in  Rebel 
hands. 


484  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Of  the  practicability  of  doing  this,  General  Stoneman 
have  to  be  the  judge,  making  up  his  mind  from  information 
obtained  while  executing  the  first  part  of  his  instructions. 
Sherman's  movements  will  attract  the  attention  of  all  the 
force  the  enemy  can  collect,  thus  facilitating  the  execution 
of  this. 

Three  thousand  cavalry  would  be  a  sufficient  force  to 
take.  This  probably  can  be  raised  in  the  old  Department  of 
the  Ohio,  without  taking  any  now  under  General  Wilson. 
It  would  require,  though,  the  reorganization  of  the  two  regi- 
ments of  Kentucky  cavalry  which  Stoneman  had  in  his  very 
successful  raid  into  Southwestern  Virginia. 

It  will  be  necessary,  probably,  for  you  to  send,  in  addition 
to  the  force  now  in  East  Tennessee,  a  small  division  of  in- 
fantry, to  enable  General  Gillem  to  hold  the  upper  end  of  Hol- 
ston  Valley,  and  the  mountain-passes  in  rear  of  Stevenson. 

You  may  order  such  an  expedition.  To  save  time,  I  will 
send  a  copy  of  this  to  General  Stoneman,  so  that  he  can  begin 
his  preparations  without  loss  of  time,  and  can  commence  his 
correspondence  with  you  as  to  these  preparations. 

As  this  expedition  goes  to  destroy,  and  not  to  fight  battles, 
but  to  avoid  them  when  practicable,  particularly  against  any- 
thing like  equal  forces,  or  where  a  great  object  is  to  be  gained, 
it  should  go  as  light  as  possible.  Stoneman's  experience  in 
raiding  will  teach  him  in  this  matter  better  than  he  can  be 
directed. 

Let  there  be  no  delay  in  the  preparations  for  this  expedi- 
tion, and  keep  me  advised  of  its  progress.  Very  respectfully, 
your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General, 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  485 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  January  31,  1865.  f 

Major-General  J.  M.  SCHOFIELD,  commanding  Army  of  the 
Ohio. 

GENERAL:  I  have  requested  by  telegraph  that,  for  present 
purposes,  North  Carolina  be  erected  into  a  department,  and 
that  you  be  placed  in  command  of  it,  subject  to  Major-Gen- 
eral Sherman's  orders.  Of  course,  you  will  receive  orders 
from  me  direct  until  such  time  as  General  Sherman  gets 
within  communicating  distance  of  you.  This  obviates  the 
necessity  of  my  publishing  the  order  which  I  informed  you 
would  meet  you  at  Fortress  Monroe.  If  the  order  referred  to 
should  not  be  published  from  the  Adjutant-General's  office, 
you  will  read  these  instructions  as  your  authority  to  assume 
command  of  all  the  troops  in  North  Carolina,  dating  all  official 
communications,  "Headquarters  Army  of  the  Ohio."  Your 
headquarters  will  be  in  the  field,  and  with  the  portion  of  the 
army  where  you  feel  yourself  most  needed.  In  the  first 
move  you  will  go  to  Cape  Fear  River. 

Your  movements  are  intended  as  co-operative  with  Sher- 
man's movement  through  the  States  of  South  and  North  Caro- 
lina. The  first  point  to  be  obtained  is  to  secure  Wil- 
mington. 

Goldsboro'  will  then  be  your  objective  point,  moving  either 
from  Wilmington  or  Newbern,  or  both,  as  you  may  deem 
best.  Should  you  not  be  able  to  reach  Goldsboro',  you  will 
advance  on  the  line  or  lines  of  railway  connecting  that  place 
with  the  sea-coast,  as  near  to  it  as  you  can,  building  the  road 
behind  you.  The  enterprise  under  you  has  two  objects:  the 
first  is,  to  give  General  Sherman  material  aid,  if  needed,  in 
his  march  north;  the  second,  to  open  a  base  of  supplies  for 
him  on  the  line  of  his  march.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  you  can 
determine  which  of  the  two  points,  Wilmington  or  Newbern, 


486  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

you  can  best  use  for  throwing  supplies  from  the  interior,  you 
will  commence  the  accumulation  of  twenty  days'  rations  and 
forage,  for  sixty  thousand  men  and  twenty  thousand  animals. 
You  will  get  of  these  as  many  as  you  can  house  and  protect, 
to  such  point  in  the  interior  as  you  may  be  able  to 
occupy. 

I  believe  General  Innis  N.  Palmer  has  received  some  in- 
structions directly  from  General  Sherman,  on  the  subject  of 
securing  supplies  for  his  army.  You  can  learn  what  steps  he 
has  taken,  and  be  governed  in  your  requisitions  accordingly. 
A  supply  of  ordnance  stores  will  also  be  necessary. 

Make  all  your  requisitions  upon  the  chiefs  of  their  respect- 
ive departments,  in  the  field,  with  me  at  City  Point.  Com- 
municate with  me  by  every  opportunity,  and,  should  you  deem 
it  necessary  at  any  time,  send  a  special  boat  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  from  which  point  you  can  communicate  by 
telegraph. 

The  supplies  referred  to  in  these  instructions  are  exclusive 
of  those  required  by  your  command. 

The  movements  of  the  enemy  may  justify  you,  or  even 
make  it  your  imperative  duty,  to  cut  loose  from  your  base 
and  strike  for  the  interior,  to  aid  Sherman.  In  such  case 
you  will  act  on  your  own  judgment,  without  waiting  for  in- 
structions. You  will  report,  however,  what  you  propose 
doing.  The  details  for  carrying  out  these  instructions  are 
necessarily  left  to  you.  I  would  urge,  however,  if  I  did  not 
know  that  you  are  already  fully  alive  to  the  importance  of 
it,  prompt  action.  Sherman  may  be  looked  for  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Goldsboro'  any  time  from  the  22d  to  the  28th 
of  February.  This  limits  your  time  very  materially. 

If  rolling-stock  is  not  secured  in  the  capture  of  Wilmington, 
it  can  be  supplied  from  Washington.  A  large  force  of  rail- 
road men  has  already  been  sent  to  Beaufort,  and  other  mechan- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  487 

ics  will  go  to  Fort  Fisher  in  a  day  or  two.     On  this  point  I 
have  informed  you  by  telegraph. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  March  16,  1865.  ) 

Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding  Military  Divis- 
ion of  the  Mississippi. 

GENERAL:  Your  interesting  letter  of  the  I2th  inst.  is  just 
received.  I  have  never  felt  any  uneasiness  for  your  safety, 
but  I  have  felt  great  anxiety  to  know  just  how  you  were  pro- 
gressing. I  knew,  or  thought  I  did,  that  with  the  magnificent 
army  with  you,  you  would  come  out  safely  somewhere.  To 
secure  certain  success,  I  deemed  the  capture  of  Wilmington 
of  the  greatest  importance.  Butler  came  near  losing  that 
prize  to  us.  But  Terry  and  Schofield  have  since  retrieved 
his  blunders,  and  I  do  not  know  but  the  first  failure  has  been 
as  valuable  a  success  for  the  country  as  the  capture  of  Fort 
Fisher.  Butler  may  not  see  it  in  that  light. 

Ever  since  you  started  on  the  last  campaign,  and  before,  I 
have  been  attempting  to  get  something  done  in  the  West, 
both  to  co-operate  with  you  and  to  take  advantage  of  the 
enemy's  weakness  there — to  accomplish  results  favorable  to 
us.  Knowing  Thomas  to  be  slow  beyond  excuse,  I  depleted 
his  army  to  reinforce  Canby,  so  that  he  might  act  from 
Mobile  Bay  on  the  interior.  With  all  I  have  said,  he  had 
not  moved  at  last  advices.  Canby  was  sending  a  cavalry 
force  of  about  seven  thousand  from  Vicksburg  toward  Selma. 
I  ordered  Thomas  to  send  Wilson  from  Eastport  toward  the 
same  point,  and  to  get  him  off  a<s  soon  after  the  2Oth  of  Feb- 
ruary as  possible.  He  telegraphed  me  that  he  would  be  off 
by  that  date.  He  has  not  yet  started,  or  had  not  at  last  ad- 


488  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

vices.  I  ordered  him  to  send  Stoneman  from  East  Tennessee 
into  Northwest  South  Carolina,  to  be  there  about  the  time 
you  would  reach  Columbia.  He  would  either  have  drawn  off 
the  enemy's  cavalry  from  you,  or  would  have  succeeded  in 
destroying  railroads,  supplies,  and  other  material,  which  you 
could  not  reach.  At  that  time  the  Richmond  papers  were 
full  of  the  accounts  of  your  movements,  and  gave  daily  ac- 
counts of  movements  in  West  North  Carolina.  I  supposed  all 
the  time  it  was  Stoneman.  You  may  judge  my  surprise  when 
I  afterward  learned  that  Stoneman  was  still  in  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  and  that  the  troops  in  North  Carolina  were  Kirk's 
forces!  In  order  that  Stoneman  might  get  off  without  delay, 
I  told  Thomas  that  three  thousand  men  would  be  sufficient 
for  him  to  take.  In  the  meantime  I  had  directed  Sheridan 
to  get  his  cavalry  ready,  and  as  soon  as  the  snow  in  the 
mountains  melted  sufficiently,  to  start  for  Staunton,  and  go 
on  and  destroy  the  Virginia  Central  Railroad  and  canal.  Time 
advanced,  until  he  set  the  28th  of  February  for  starting.  I 
informed  Thomas,  and  directed  him  to  change  the  course  of 
Stoneman  toward  Lynchburg,  to  destroy  the  road  in  Virginia 
up  as  near  to  that  place  as  possible.  Not  hearing  from 
Thomas,  I  telegraphed  to  him  about  the  I2th,  to  know  if 
Stoneman  was  yet  off.  He  replied  not,  but  that  he  (Thomas) 
would  start  that  day  for  Knoxville,  to  get  him  off  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Sheridan  has  made  his  raid,  and  with  splendid  success,  so 
far  as  heard.  I  am  looking  for  him  at  "White  House"  to-day. 
Since  about  the  2Oth  of  last  month  the  Richmond  papers 
have  been  prohibited  from  publishing  accounts  of  army  move- 
ments. We  are  left  to  our  own  resources,  therefore,  for  in- 
formation. You  will  see  from  the  papers  what  Sheridan  has 
done;  if  you  do  not,  the  officer  who  bears  this  will  tell  you 
all. 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  489 

Lee  has  depleted  his  army  but  very  little  recently,  and  I 
learn  of  none  going  south.  Some  regiments  may  have  been 
detached,  but  I  think  no  division  or  brigade.  The  determina- 
tion seems  to  be  to  hold  Richmond  as  long  as  possible.  I 
have  a  force  sufficient  to  leave  enough  to  hold  our  lines  (all 
that  is  necessary  of  them)  and  move  out  with  plenty  to  whip 
his  whole  army.  But  the  roads  are  entirely  impassable. 
Until  they  improve,  I  shall  content  myself  with  watching 
Lee,  and  be  prepared  to  pitch  into  him  if  he  attempts  to  evac- 
uate the  place.  I  may  bring  Sheridan  over — think  I  will— 
and  break  up  the  Danville  and  Southside  Railroads.  These 
are  the  last  avenues  left  to  the  enemy. 

Recruits  have  come  in  so  rapidly  at  the  West  that  Thomas 
has  now  about  as  much  force  as  he  had  when  he  attacked 
Hood.  1  have  stopped  all  who,  under  previous  orders,  would 
go  to  him,  except  those  from  Illinois. 

Fearing  the  possibility  of  the  enemy  falling  back  to  Lynch- 
burg,  and  afterward  attempting  to  go  into  East  Tennessee  or 
Kentucky,  I  have  ordered  Thomas  to  move  the  Fourth  Corps 
to  Bull's  Gap,  and  to  fortify  there,  and  to  hold  out  to  the  Vir- 
ginia line,  if  he  can.  He  has  accumulated  a  large  amount  of 
supplies  in  Knoxville  and  has  been  ordered  not  to  destroy 
any  of  the  railroad  west  of  the  Virginia  line.  I  told  him  to 
get  ready  for  a  campaign  toward  Lynchburg,  if  it  became 
necessary.  He  never  can  make  one  there  or  elsewhere;  but 
the  steps  taken  will  prepare  for  anyone  else  to  take  his  troops 
and  come  east,  or  go  toward  Rome,  whichever  may  be  nec- 
essary. I  do  not  believe  either  will. 

When  I  hear  that  you  and  Schofield  are  together,  with  your 
back  upon  the  coast,  I  shall  feel  that  you  are  entirely  safe 
against  anything  the  enemy  can  do.  Lee  may  evacuate  Rich- 
mond, but  he  cannot  go  there  with  force  enough  to  touch  you. 
His  army  is  now  demoralized,  and  deserting  very  fast,  both 


49°  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.      . 

to  us   and  to  their  homes.     A   retrograde   movement  would 
cost  him  thousands  of  men,  even  if  we  did  not  follow. 

Five  thousand  men,  belonging  to  the  corps  with  you,  are 
now  on  their  way  to  join  you.  If  more  reinforcements  are 
necessary,  I  will  send  them.  My  notion  is  that  you  should 
get  Raleigh  as  soon  as  possible,  and  hold  the  railroad  from 
there  back.  This  may  take  more  force  than  you  now  have. 

From  that  point  all  North  Carolina  roads  can  be  made  use- 
less to  the  enemy  without  keeping  up  communications  with 
the  rear. 

Hoping  to  hear  soon  of  your  junction  with  the  forces  from 
Wilmington  and  Newbern,  I  remain,  very  respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant- General. 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 

IN  THE  FIELD,   Cox's  BRIDGE,  NEUSE  RIVER,  (• 

NORTH  CAROLINA,  March  22,  1865.  ) 

Lieutenant-General  U.     S.     GRANT,     Commander-in-Chief, 

City  Point,  Virginia. 

GENERAL:  I  wrote  you  from  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina, 
on  Tuesday,  the  I4th  instant,  that  I  was  already  to  start  for 
Goldsboro',  to  which  point  I  had  also  ordered  General  Scho- 
field  from  Newbern,  and  General  Terry  from  Wilmington.  I 
knew  that  General  Jos.  Johnston  was  supreme  in  command 
against  me,  and  that  he  would  have  time  to  concentrate  a  re- 
spectable army  to  oppose  the  last  stage  of  this  march.  Accord- 
ingly, General  Slocum  was  ordered  to  send  his  main  supply 
train,  under  escort  of  two  divisions,  straight  for  Bentonsville, 
while  he,  with  his  other  four  divisions,  disencumbered  of  all 
unnecessary  wagons,  should  march  toward  Raleigh,  by  way  of 
threat,  as  far  as  Averysboro'.  General  Howard,  in  like  man- 
ner, sent  his  trains  with  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  well  to  the 
right,  and,  with  the  four  divisions  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps, 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  49 1 

took  roads  which  would  enable  him  to  come  promptly  to 
the  exposed  left  flank.  We  started  on  the  1 5th,  but  again 
the  rains  set  in,  and  the  roads,  already  bad  enough,  became 
horrible. 

On  Tuesday,  the  i$th,  General  Slocum  found  Hardee's 
army,  from  Charleston,  which  had  retreated  before  us  from 
Cheraw,  in  position  across  the  narrow,  swampy  neck  between 
Cape  Fear  and  North  Rivers,  where  the  road  branches  off  to 
Goldsboro'.  There  a  pretty  severe  fight  occurred,  in  which 
General  Slocum 's  troops  carried  handsomely  the  advanced 
line,  held  by  a  South  Carolina  brigade,  commanded  by  a  Colo- 
nel Butler.  Its  commander,  Colonel  Rhett,  of  Fort  Sumter 
notoriety,  with  one  of  his  staff,  had  the  night  before  been 
captured  by  Kilpatrick's  scouts  from  his  very  skirmish  line. 
The  next  morning  Hardee  was  found  gone,  and  was  pursued 
through  and  beyond  Averysboro'.  General  Slocum  buried 
one  hundred  and  eight  dead  Rebels,  and  captured  and  de- 
stroyed three  guns.  Some  eighty  wounded  Rebels  were  left 
in  our  hands,  and,  after  dressing  their  wounds,  we  left  them 
in  a  house,  attended  by  a  Confederate  officer  and  four  pri- 
vates, detailed  out  of  our  prisoners  and  paroled  for  the  pur- 
pose. 

We  resumed  the  march  toward  Goldsboro'.  I  was  with  the 
left  wing  until  I  supposed  all  danger  had  passed;  but  when 
General  Slocum's  head  of  column  was  within  four  miles  of 
Bentonsville,  after  skirmishing  as  usual  with  cavalry,  he  be- 
came aware  that  there  was  infantry  in  his  front.  He  deployed 
a  couple  of  brigades,  which,  on  advancing,  sustained  a  par- 
tial repulse,  but  soon  rallied,  when  he  formed  a  line  of  the 
two  leading  divisions  (Morgan's  and  Carlin's)  of  Jeff.  C. 
Davis'  Corps.  The  enemy  attacked  these  with  violence,  but 
was  repulsed.  This  was  in  the  forenoon  of  Sunday,  the  iQth. 
General  Slocum  brought  forward  the  two  divisions  of  the 


4Q2  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN 

Twentieth  Corps,  hastily  disposed  of  them  for  defense,  and 
General  Kilpatrick  massed  his  cavalry  on  the  left. 

General  Jos.  Johnston  had  the  night  before  marched  his 
whole  army  (Bragg,  Cheatham,  S.  D.  Lee,  Hardee,  and  all  the 
troops  he  had  drawn  from  every  quarter),  determined,  as 
he  told  his  men,  to  crush  one  of  our  corps,  and  then  defeat 
us  in  detail.  He  attacked  General  Slocum  in  position  from 
3  P.  M.  on  the  nineteenth  till  dark;  but  was  everywhere  re- 
pulsed, and  lost  heavily.  At  the  time  I  was  with  the  Fifteenth 
Corps,  marching  on  a  road  more  to  the  right;  but,  on  hearing 
of  General  Slocum 's  danger,  directed  that  corps  toward  Cox's 
bridge,  in  the  night  brought  Blair's  Corps  over,  and  on  the 
2Oth  marched  rapidly  on  Johnston's  flank  and  rear.  We 
struck  him  about  noon,  forced  him  to  assume  the  defensive, 
and  to  fortify.  Yesterday  we  pushed  him  hard,  and  came 
very  near  crushing  him,  the  right  division  of  the  Seventeenth 
Corps  (Mower's)  having  broken  in  two  within  a  hundred  yards 
of  where  Johnston  himself  was,  at  the  bridge  across  Mill 
Creek.  Last  night  he  retreated,  leaving  us  in  possession  of 
the  field,  dead,  and  wounded.  We  have  over  two  thousand 
prisoners  from  this  affair  and  the  one  at  Averysboro',  and  I 
am  satisfied  that  Johnston's  army  was  so  roughly  handled  yes- 
terday that  we  could  march  right  on  to  Raleigh;  but  we  have 
now  been  out  six  weeks,  living  precariously  upon  the  collec- 
tions of  our  foragers,  our  men  "dirty,  ragged,  and  saucy," 
and  we  must  rest  and  fix  up  a  little.  Our  entire  loss  thus 
far  (killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners)  will  be  covered  by 
twenty-five  hundred,  a  great  part  of  which  are,  as  usual, 
slight  wounds.  The  enemy  has  lost  more  than  double  as 
many,  and  we  have  in  prisoners  alone  full  two  thousand. 

I  limited  the  pursuit  this  morning  to  Mill  Creek,  and  will 
forthwith  march  the  army  to  Goldsboro',  there  to  rest,reclothe, 
and  get  some  rations. 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  493 

Our  combinations  were  such  that  General  Schofield  entered 
Goldsboro'  from  Newbern;  General  Terry  got  Cox's  Bridge, 
with  pontoons  laid,  and  a  brigade  across  Neuse  River  in- 
trenched; and  we  whipped  Jos.  Johnston — all  on  the  same 
day. 

After  riding  over  the  field  of  battle  to-day,  near  Bentons- 
ville,  and  making  the  necessary  orders,  I  have  ridden  down 
to  this  place  (Cox's  Bridge)  to  see  General  Terry,  and  to-mor- 
row shall  ride  into  Goldsboro'. 

I  propose  to  collect  there  my  army  proper;  shall  post  Gen- 
eral Terry  about  Faison's  Depot,  and  General  Schofield  about 
Kinston,  partly  to  protect  the  road,  but  more  to  collect  such 
food  and  forage  as  the  country  affords,  until  the  railroads  are 
repaired  leading  into  Goldsboro'. 

I  fear  these  have  not  been  pushed  with  the  vigor  I  had  ex- 
pected; but  I  will  soon  have  them  both  going.  I  shall  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  organize  three  armies  of  twenty-five  thousand 
men  each,  and  will  try  and  be  all  ready  to  march  to  Raleigh 
or  Weldon,  as  we  may  determine,  by  or  before  April  loth. 

I  inclose  you  a  copy  of  my  orders  of  to-day.  I  would  like 
to  be  more  specific,  but  have  not  the  data.  We  have  lost 
no  general  officers  nor  any  organization.  General  Slocum 
took  three  guns  at  Averysboro',  and  lost  three  others  at  the 
first  dash  on  him  at  Bentonsville.  We  have  all  our  wagons 
and  trains  in  good  order. 

Yours  truly,  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General. 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  GOLDSBORO',  N.  C,,  March  23,  1865.  j 

Lieutenant-General  U.    S.  GRANT,  commanding   the    Armies 

of  the  United  States,  City  Point,  Virginia. 
GENERAL:  .  On  reaching  Goldsboro'  this  morning,  I  found 
Lieutenant  Dunn  awaiting   me   with   your   letter   of   March 


494  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

1 6th,  and  dispatch  of  the  i7th.  I  wrote  you  fully  from  Cox's 
Bridge  yesterday,  and  since  reaching  Goldsboro'  have  learned 
that  my  letter  was  sent  punctually  to  Newbern,  whence  it 
will  be  dispatched  to  you. 

I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  General  Sheridan  did  such  good 
service  between  Richmond  and  Lynchburg,  and  hope  he  will 
keep  the  ball  moving.  I  know  that  these  raids  and  dashes 
disconcert  our  enemy  and  discourage  him  much. 

General  Slocum's  two  corps  (Fourteenth  and  Twentieth) 
are  now  coming  in.  I  will  dispose  of  them  north  of  Golds- 
boro', between  the  Weldon  road  and  the  Little  River.  Gen- 
eral Howard  to-day  is  marching  south  of  the  Neuse,  and  to- 
morrow will  come  in  and  occupy  ground  north  of  Goldsboro', 
extending  from  the  Weldon  Railroad  to  that  leading  to  Kins- 
ton. 

I  have  ordered  all  the  provisional  divisions,  made  up  of 
troops  belonging  to  the  regular  corps,  to  be  broken  up,  and 
the  men  to  join  their  proper  regiments  and  organizations; 
and  have  ordered  General  Schofield  to  guard  the  railroads 
back  to  Newbern  and  Wilmington,  and  to  make  up  a  movable 
column  equal  to  twenty-five  thousand  men,  with  which  to 
take  the  field.  His  army  will  be  the  center,  as  on  the  At- 
lanta campaign.  I  do  not  think  I  want  any  more  troops 
(other  than  absentees  and  recruits)  to  fill  up  the  present  regi- 
ments, and  I  can  make  up  an  army  of  eighty-thousand  men 
by  April  loth.  I  will  post  General  Kilpatrick  at  Mount 
Olive  Station,  on  the  Wilmington  road,  and  then  allow  the 
army  some  rest. 

We  have  sent  all  our  empty  wagons,  under  escort,  with 
the  proper  staff  officers,  to  bring  up  from  Kinston  clothing  and 
provisions.  As  long  as  we  move  we  can  gather  food  and 
forage;  but  the  moment  we  stop,  trouble  begins. 

I  feel  sadly  disappointed  that  our  railroads  are  not  done. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  495 

I  do  not  like  to  say  there  has  been  any  neglect  until  I  make 
inquiries;  but  it  does  seem  to  me  the  repairs  should  have 
been  made  ere  this,  and  the  road  properly  stocked.  I  can 
only  hear  of  one  locomotive  (besides  the  four  old  ones)  on  the 
Newbern  road,  and  two  damaged  locomotives  (found  by  Gen- 
eral Terry)  on  the  Wilmington  road.  I  left  Generals  Easton 
and  Beckwith  purposely  to  make  arrangements  in  anticipation 
of  my  arrival,  and  have  heard  from  neither,  though  I  sup- 
pose them  both  to  be  at  Morehead  City. 

At  all  events,  we  have  now  made  a  junction  of  all  the 
armies,  and  if  we  can  maintain  them  will  in  a  short  time  be 
in  a  position  to  march  against  Raleigh,  Gaston,  Weldon,  or 
even  Richmond,  as  you  may  determine. 

If  I  get  the  troops  all  well  placed,  and  the  supplies  work- 
ing well,  I  may  run  up  to  see  you  for  a  day  or  two  before 
diving  again  into  the  bowels  of  the  country. 

I  will  make,  in  a  very  short  time,  accurate  reports  of  our 
operations  for  the  past  two  months.  Yours  truly, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding. 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss., 
IN  THE  FIELD,  GOLDSBORO',  N.  C.,  March  24,  1865. 

Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  GRANT,  City  Point,  Virginia. 

GENERAL:  I  have  kept  Lieutenant  Dunn  over  to-day  that 
I  might  report  further.  All  the  army  is  now  in,  save  the  cav- 
alry (which  I  have  posted  at  Mount  Olivet  Station,  south  of 
the  Neuse)  and  General  Terry's  command  (which  to-morrow 
will  move  from  Cox's  Ferry  to  Faison's  Depot,  also  on  the 
Wilmington  road).  I  send  you  a  copy  of  my  orders  of  this 
morning,  the  operation  of  which  will,  I  think,  soon  complete 
our  roads.  The  telegraph  is  now  done  to  Morehead  City, 
and  by  it  I  learn  that  stores  have  been  sent  to  Kinston  in 
boats,  and  that  our  wagons  are  loading  with  rations  and  cloth- 


496  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

ing.  By  using  the  Neuse  as  high  up  as  Kinston,  hauling  from 
there  twenty-six  miles,  and  by  equipping  the  two  roads  to 
Morehead  City  and  Wilmington,  I  feel  certain  we  can  not 
only  feed  and  equip  the  army,  but  in  a  short  time  fill  our 
wagons  for  another  start.  I  feel  certain,  from  the  character 
of  the  fighting,  that  we  have  got  Johnston's  army  afraid  of 
us.  He  himself  acts  with  timidity  and  caution.  His  cavalry 
alone  manifests  spirit,  but  limits  its  operations  to  our  strag- 
glers and  foraging  parties.  My  marching  columns  of  infantry 
do  not  pay  the  cavalry  any  attention,  but  walk  right  through 
it. 

I  think  I  see  pretty  clearly  how,  in  one  more  move,  we  can 
checkmate  Lee,  forcing  him  to  unite  Johnston  with  him  in 
the  defense  of  Richmond,  or  to  abandon  the  cause.  I  feel 
certain,  if  he  leaves  Richmond,  Virginia  leaves  the  Confeder- 
acy. I  will  study  my  maps  a  little  more  before  giving  my 
positive  views.  I  want  all  possible  information  of  the  Roa- 
noke  as  to  navigability,  how  far  up,  and  with  what  draught. 

We  find  the  country  sandy,  dry,  with  good  roads,  and  more 
corn  and  forage  than  I  had  expected.  The  families  remain,  but 
I  will  gradually  push  them  all  out  to  Raleigh  or  Wilmington. 
We  will  need  every  house  in  the  town.  Lieutenant  Dunn  can 
tell  you  of  many  things  of  which  I  need  not  write. 

Yours  truly,  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major- General. 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  GOLDSBORO',  N.  C.,  April  5,  1865.  ) 

Major-General   GEORGE   H.  THOMAS,    commanding   Depart- 
ment of  the  Cumberland. 

DEAR  GENERAL:  I  can  hardly  help  smiling  when  I  contem- 
plate my  command — it  is  decidedly  mixed.  I  believe,  but  am 
not  certain,  that  you  are  in  my  jurisdiction,  but  I  certainly 
cannot  help  you  in  the  way  of  orders  or  men;  nor  do  I  think 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  497 

you  need  either.  General  Cruft  has  just  arrived  with  his 
provisional  division,  which  will  at  once  be  broken  up,  and  the 
men  sent  to  their  proper  regiments,  as  that  of  Meagher  was 
on  my  arival  here. 

You  may  have  some  feeling  about  my  asking  that  General 
Slocum  should  have  command  of  the  two  corps  that  properly 
belong  to  you,  viz.,  the  Fourteenth  and  twentieth,  but  you 
can  recall  that  he  was  but  a  corps  commander,  and  could 
not  legally  make  orders  of  discharge,  transfer,  etc.,  which  was 
imperatively  necessary.  I  therefore  asked  that  General  Slo- 
cum should  be  assigned  to  command  "an  army  in  the  field," 
called  the  army  of  Georgia,  composed  of  the  Fourteenth  and 
Twentieth  Corps.  The  order  is  not  yet  made  by  the  Presi- 
dent, though  I  have  recognized  it,  because  both  General  Grant 
and  the  President  have  sanctioned  it,  and  promised  to  have 
the  order  made. 

My  army  is  now  here,  pretty  well  clad  and  provided,  divid- 
ed into  three  parts  of  two  corps  each — much  as  our  old  At- 
lanta Army  was. 

I  expect  to  move  on  in  a  few  days,  and  propose  (if  Lee  re- 
mains in  Richmond)  to  pass  the  Roanoke,  and  open  communi- 
cation with  the  Chowan  and  Norfolk.  This  will  bring  me  in 
direct  communication  with  General  Grant. 

This  is  an  admirable  point — country  open,  and  the  two 
railroads  in  good  order  back  to  Wilmington  and  Beaufort. 
We  have  already  brought  up  stores  enough  to  fill  our  wagons, 
and  only  await  some  few  articles,  and  the  arrival  of  some 
men  who  are  marching  up  from  the  coast,  to  be  off. 

General  Grant  explained  to  me  his  orders  to  you,  which 
of  course  are  all  right.  You  can  make  reports  direct  to 
Washington  or-  to  General  Grant,  but  keep  me  advised  occa- 
sionally of  the  general  state  of  affairs,  that  I  may  know  what 
is  happening.  I  must  give  my  undivided  attention  to  matters 
32 


49^  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

here.     You  will  hear  from  a  thousand  sources  pretty  fair  ac- 
counts of  our  next  march.     Yours  truly, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General. 

[LETTER  FROM  ADMIRAL  DAHLGREN.] 

^  SOUTH-ATLANTIC  SQUADRON,  | 

FLAG-SHIP  PHILADELPHIA,  CHARLESTON,  April  20,  1865.  ( 

Major-General  ^J .  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding  Armies  of  the 
of  the  Tennessee,  Georgia,  and  Mississippi. 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL:  I  was  much  gratified  by  a  sight  of  your 
handwriting,  which  has  just  reached  me  from  Goldsboro';  it 
was  very  suggestive  of  a  past  to  me,  when  these  regions  were 
the  scene  of  your  operations. 

As  you  progressed  through  South  Carolina,  there  was  no 
manifestation  of  weakness  or  of  an  intention  to  abandon 
Charleston,  until  within  a  few  hours  of  the  fact.  On  the 
nth  of  February  I  was  at  Stono,  and  a  spirited  demonstra- 
tion was  made  by  General  Schimmelpfennig  and  the  vessels. 
He  drove  the  Rebels  from  their  rifle-pits  in  front  of  the 
lines,  extending  from  Fort  Pringle,  and  pushed  them  vigor- 
ously. The  next  day  I  was  at  Bull's  Bay,  with  a  dozen 
steamers,  among  them  the  finest  of  the  squadron.  General 
Potter  had  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  men,  the  object  being 
to  carry  out  your  views.  We  made  as  much  fuss  as  possible, 
and  with  better  success  than  I  anticipated,  for  it  seems  that 
the  Rebs  conceived  Stono  to  be  a  feint,  and  the  real  object  at 
Bull's  Bay,  supposing  from  the  number  of  steamers  and  boats, 
that  we  had  several  thousand  men.  Now  came  an  aid  from 
General  Gillmore,  at  Port  Royal,  with  your  cipher  dispatch 
from  Midway;  so  I  steamed  down  to  Port  Royal  to  see  him. 

Next  day  was  spent  in  vain  efforts  to  decipher — finally  it 
was  accomplished.  You  thought  that  the  state  of  the  roads 
might  force  you  to  turn  upon  Charleston;  so  I  went  there  on 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  499 

the  1 5th,  but  there  was  no  sign  yet  of  flinching.  Then  I  went 
to  Bull's  Bay  next  day  (i6th),  and  found  that  the  troops  were 
not  yet  ashore,  owing  to  the  difficulties  of  shoal  water.  One 
of  the  gun-boats  had  contrived  to  get  up  to  within  shelling 
range,  and  both  soldiers  and  sailors  were  working  hard.  On 
the  evening  of  the  i6th  I  steamed  down  to  Stono  to  see  how 
matters  were  going  there.  Passing  Charleston,  I  noticed  two 
large  fires,  well  inside — probably  preparing  to  leave.  On 
the  i/th,  in  Stono,  rumors  were  flying  about  loose  of 
evacuation.  In  course  of  the  morning,  General  Schimmel- 
pfennig  telegraphed  me,  from  Morris  Island,  that  there  were 
symptoms  of  leaving;  that  he  would  again  make  a  push  at  Sto- 
no, and  asked  for  monitors.  General  Schimmelpfennig  came 
down  in  the  afternoon,  and  we  met  in  the  Folly  branch,  near 
Secessionville.  He  was  sure  that  the  Rebs  would  be  off  that 
night,  so  he  was  to  assault  them  in  front,  while  a  monitor 
and  gun-boats  stung  their  flanks  both  sides.  I  also  sent  an 
aid  to  order  my  battery  of  five  eleven-inch  guns,  at  Gum- 
ming's  Point,  to  fire  steadily  all  night  on  Sullivan's  Island, 
and  two  monitors  to  close  up  to  the  island  for  the  same  ob- 
ject. Next  morning  (i8th)  the  rascals  were  found  to  be  off, 
arid  we  broke  in  from  all  directions,  by  land  and  water. 
The  main  bodies  had  left  at  eight  or  nine  in  the  evening, 
leaving  detachments  to  keep  up  a  fire  from  the  batteries.  I 
steamed  round  quickly,  and  soon  got  into  the  city,  threading 
the  streets  with  a  large  group  of  naval  captains  who  had 
joined  me.  All  was  silent  as  the  grave.  No  one  to  be  seen 
but  a  few  firemen. 

No  one  can  question  the  excellence  of  your  judgment  in 
taking  the  track  you  did,  and  I  never  had  any  misgivings, 
but  it  was  natural  to  desire  to  go  into  the  place  with  a  strong 
hand,  for,  if  any  one  spot  in  the  land  was  foremost  in  the 
trouble,  it  was  Charleston. 


500  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

Your  campaign  was  the  final  blow,  grand  in  conception, 
complete  in  execution;  and  now  it  is  yours  to  secure  the  last 
army  which  Rebeldom  possesses.  I  hear  of  your  being  in 
motion  by  the  9th,  and  hope  that  the  result  may  be  all  that 
you  wish. 

Tidings  of  the  murder  of  the  President  have  just  come,  and 
shocked  every  mind.  Can  it  be  that  such  a  resort  finds  root 
in  any  stratum  of  American  opinion?  Evidently  it  has  not 
been  the  act  of  one  man,  nor  of  a  madman.  Who  have 
prompted  him? 

I  am  grateful  for  your  remembrance  of  my  boy;  the  thought 
of  him  is  ever  nearest  to  my  heart.  Generous,  brave,  and 
noble,  as  I  ever  knew  him  to  be,  that  he  should  close  his 
young  life  so  early,  even  under  the  accepted  conditions  of  a 
soldier's  life,  as  a  son  of  the  Union,  would  have  been  grief 
sufficient  for  me  to  bear;  but  that  his  precious  remains  should 
have  been  so  treated  by  the  brutes  into  whose  hands  they 
fell,  adds  even  to  the  bitterness  of  death.  I  am  now  await- 
ing the  hour  when  I  can  pay  my  last  duties  to  his  memory. 

With  my  best  and  sincere  wishes,  my  dear  general,  for 
your  success  and  happiness,  I  am,  most  truly,  your  friend, 

J.  A.  DAHLGREN. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PEACE — CLOSING    SCENES    OF    THE    GREAT    REBELLION — SHER- 
MAN'S  RECORD  AND  THE  MANIPULATIONS  OF  POLITICIANS. 

There  was  practically  little  to  be  done,  except  to  make 
terms  of  surrender  for  the  armies  of  the  Confederacy,  whose 
commanders  realized  the  futility  of  further  resistance.  After 
the  taking  of  Goldsboro',  it  required  but  a  few  days  to  place 
the  army  in  position  for  further  effort,  but  General  Sherman 
was  desirous  of  having  a  personal  interview  with  General 
Grant.  He  had  received  the  following  letter,  and  determined 
to  go  to  City  Point  as  soon  as  the  road  was  finished. 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,   March  22,  1865.  f 

"Major-General W.  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding  Military  Di- 
vision of  the  Mississippi. 

"GENERAL:  Although  the  Richmond  papers  do  not  commu- 
nicate the  fact,  yet  I  saw  enough  in  them  to  satisfy  me  that 
you  occupied  Goldsboro'  on  the  iQth  inst.  I  congratulate 
you  and  the  army  on  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  success- 
ful termination  of  the  third  campaign  since  leaving  the  Ten- 
nessee River,  less  than  one  year  ago. 

"Since  Sheridan's  very  successful  raid  north  of  the  James, 
the  enemy  are  left  dependent  on  the  Southside  and  Danville 
roads  for  all  their  supplies.  These  I  hope  to  cut  next  week. 
Sheridan  is  at  ' White  House,'  shoeing  up  and  resting  his 
cavalry.  I  expect  him  to  finish  by  Friday  night  and  to  start 
the  following  morning,  via  Long  Bridge,  Newmarket,  Ber- 
muda Hundred,  and  the  extreme  left  of  the  army  around 

501 


5O2  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

Petersburg.  He  will  make  no  halt  with  the  armies  operat- 
ing here,  but  will  be  joined  by  a  division  of  cavalry,  five  thou- 
sand five  hundred  strong,  from  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
will  proceed  directly  to  the  Southside  and  Danville  roads. 
His  instructions  will  be  to  strike  the  Southside  road 
as  near  Petersburg  as  he  can,  and  destroy  it  so  that  it  cannot 
be  repaired  for  three  or  four  days,  and  push  on  to  the  Dan- 
ville road,  as  near  to  the  Appomattox  as  he  can  get.  Then  I 
want  him  to  destroy  the  road  toward  Burkesville  as  far  as  he 
can;  then  push  on  to  the  Southside  road,  west  of  Burkesville, 
and  destroy  it  effectually.  From  that  point  I  shall  probably 
leave  it  to  his  discretion  either  to  return  to  this  army,  cross- 
ing the  Danville  road  south  of  Burkesville,  or  go  and  join  you, 
passing  between  Danville  and  Greensboro'.  When  this 
movement  commences,  I  shall  move  out  by  my  left,  with  ;  1 
the  force  I  can,  holding  present  intrenched  lines.  I  slit.il 
start  with  no  distinct  view,  further  than  holding  Lee's  forces 
from  following  Sheridan.  But  I  shall  be  along  myself,  and 
will  take  advantage  of  anything  that  turns  up.  If  Lee  de- 
taches, I  will  attack;  or  if  he  comes  out  of  his  lines  I  will 
endeavor  to  repulse  him,  and  follow  it  up  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. 

"It  is  most  difficult  to  understand  what  the  Rebels  intend 
to  do;  so  far  but  few  troops  have  been  detached  from  Lee's 
army.  Much  machinery  has  been  removed,  and  material 
has  been  sent  to  Lynchburg,  showing  a  disposition  to  go 
there.  Points,  too,  have  been  fortified  on  the  Danville  road. 

"Lee's  army  is  much  demoralized,  and  great  numbers  are 
deserting.  Probably,  from  returned  prisoners,  and  such  con- 
scripts as  can  be  picked  up,  his  numbers  may  be  kept  up.  I 
estimate  his  force  now  at  about  sixty-five  thousand  men. 

"Wilson  started  on  Monday  with  twelve  thousand  cavalry, 
from  Eastport.  Stoneman  started  on  the  same  day,  from 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  503 

East  Tennessee,  toward  Lynchburg.  Thomas  is  moving  the 
Fourth  Corps  to  Bull's  Gap.  Canby  is  moving  with  a  for- 
midable force  on  Mobile  and  the  interior  of  Alabama. 

"I  ordered  Gillmore,  as  soon  as  the  fall  of  Charleston  was 
known,  to  hold  all  important  posts  on  the  sea-coast,  and  to 
send  to  Wilmington  all  surplus  forces.  Thomas  was  also 
directed  to  forward  to  Newbern  all  troops  belonging  to  the 
corps  with  you.  I  understand  this  will  give  you  about  five 
thousand  men,  besides  those  brought  east  by  Meagher. 

"I  have  been  telegraphing  General  Meigs  to  hasten  up  loco- 
motives and  cars  for  you.  General  McCallum,  he  informs 
me,  is  attending  to  it.  I  fear  they  are  not  going  forward  as 
fast  as  I  would  like. 

"Let  me  know  if  you  want  more  troops,  or  any  thing  else. 

"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General." 

The  railroad  was  completed  March  24th,  and  General  Sher- 
man proceeded  at  once  to  City  Point,  where  he  met  General 
Grant  and  President  Lincoln,  who  had  come  down  on  a  boat 
to  consult  with  General  Grant  about  the  terms  to  be  made 
to  the  armies  about  to  surrender  or  be  bagged.  General 
Sherman  was  cordially  received,  and  Lincoln  was  delighted  at 
reports  of  his  progress,  and  especially  at  his  desire  to  pre- 
vent any  further  shedding  of  blood.  In  the  interview  the 
President  impressed  General  Sherman  as  a  man  in  whom 
there  was  no  thought  of  bitterness  caused  by  the  war,  but 
rather  that  kindliness  which  led  to  every  effort  to  save  further 
loss  of  life. 

Soon  after  the  interview,  General  Sherman  proceeded  down 
the  James  River,  and  at  Old  Point  Comfort  took  on  board 
the  son  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  at  once  set  sail  for  his 
army  in  North  Carolina.  He  had  arranged  with  General 


504  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

Grant  for  a  reorganization  of  his  army.  By  the  5th  of 
April  matters  had  progressed  so  far  as  to  make  an  advance 
possible,  and  confidential  orders  were  issued  to  the  corps  com- 
manders. 

But  the  next  day  we  heard  news  that  put  the  army  to  a 
frenzy  of  delight.  It  was  no  less  than  the  evacuation  of 
Richmond  by  the  army  under  Lee,  and  the  flight  of  Jeff. 
Davis.  The  news  was  received  in  the  form  of  a  cipher  dis- 
patch as  follows: 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ) 
WILSON'S  STATION,  April  5,  1865.  ) 
"Major-General  SHERMAN,  Goldsboro',  North  Carolina: 

"All  indications  now  are  that  Lee  will  attempt  to  reach 
Danville  with  the  remnant  of  his  force.  Sheridan,  who  was 
up  with  him  last  night,  reports  all  that  is  left  with  him— 
horse,  foot,  and  dragoons — at  twenty  thousand,  much  demor- 
alized. We  hope  to  reduce  this  number  one-half.  I  will  push 
on  to  Burkesville,  and,  if  a  stand  is  made  at  Danville,  will 
in  a  very  few  days  go  there.  If  you  can  possibly  do  so,  push 
on  from  where  you  are,  and  let  us  see  if  we  cannot  finish  the 
job  with  Lee's  and  Johnston's  armies.  Whether  it  will  be 
better  for  you  to  strike  for  Greensboro',  or  nearer  to  Dan- 
ville, you  will  be  better  able  to  judge  when  you  receive  this. 
Rebel  armies  now  are  the  only  strategic  points  to  strike  at. 
"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General" 

General  Sherman  issued  the  following  to  the  troops  under 
his  command: 

[SPECIAL  FIELD  ORDERS,  NO.  54.] 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY   DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  \ 
IN  THE  FIELD,  SMITHFIELD,   NORTH  CAROLINA,  > 

April  12,  1865.  ) 

The  general   commanding  announces  to  the  army  that  he 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  505 

has  official  notice  from  General  Grant  that  General  Lee  sur- 
rendered to  him  his  entire  army,  on  the  9th  inst. ,  at  Appo- 
mattox  Court-House,  Virginia. 

Glory  to  God  and  our  country,  and  all  honor  to  our  com- 
rades in  arms,  toward  whom  we  are  marching! 

A  little  more  labor,  a  little  more  toil  on  our  part,  the  great 
race  is  won,  and  our  Government  stands  regenerated,  after 
four  long  years  of  war. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  portray  the  scenes  following  the  re- 
ceipt of  this  information.  Let  those  who  were  far  from  the 
fields  of  battle,  who  had  seen  no  piles  of  victims  awaiting 
burial;  who  had  not  left  friends  dying  without  a  word  as 
they  rushed  to  avenge  their  death:  let  these  recall  their  own 
feelings  when  the  tidings  were  brought  to  them,  and  they 
may  partially  understand  what  was  in  the  minds  of  the  men 
of  the  army.  From  all  sides  were  heard  men  singing  the 
songs  of  the  war,  and  eagerly  anticipating  the  day  when  home 
roofs  should  be  seen  and  loved  ones  held  to  hearts  strained 
most  to  breaking. 

General  Sherman  proceeded  to  Raleigh,  to  prepare  for  the 
next  duty. 

On  the  morning  of  .the  I4th  General  Kilpatrick  reported 
from  Durham's  Station  that  a  flag  of  truce  had  come  in  from 
the  enemy,  with  a  package  from  General  Johnston.  It  was 
as  follows: 

"The  results  of  the  recent  campaign  in  Virginia  have 
changed  the  relative  military  condition  of  the  belligerents. 
I  am,  therefore,  induced  to  address  you  in  this  form  the  in- 
quiry whether,  to  stop  the  further  effusion  of  blood  and  devas- 
tation of  property,  you  are  willing  to  make  a  temporary  sus- 
pension of  active  operations,  and  to  communicate  to  Lieu- 


506  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

tenant-General  Grant,  commanding  the  armies  of  the  United 
States,  the  request  that  he  will  take  like  action  in  regard  to 
other  armies,  the  object  being  to  permit  the  civil  authorities  to 
enter  into  the  needful  arrangements  to  terminate  existing 
war." 

General  Sherman  replied  as  follows: 

"HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  RALEIGH,  N.  C.,  April  14,  1865.  ( 

"General  J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  commanding  Confederate  Army. 

"GENERAL:  I  have  this  moment  received  your  communica- 
tion of  this  date.  I  am  fully  empowered  to  arrange  with  you 
any  terms  for  the  suspension  of  further  hostilities  between 
the  armies  commanded  by  you  and  those  commanded  by 
myself,  and  will  be  willing  to  confer  with  you  to  that  end.  I 
will  limit  the  advance  of  my  main  column  to-morrow,  to  Mor- 
risville,  and  the  cavalry  to  the  university,  and  expect  that 
you  will  also  maintain  the  present  position  of  your  forces  until 
each  has  notice  of  failure  to  agree. 

"That  a  basis  of  action  may  be  had,  I  undertake  to  abide 
by  the  same  terms  and  conditions  as  were  made  by  Generals 
Grant  and  Lee  at  Appomattox  Court-House,  on  the  gth  in- 
stant, relative  to  our  two  armies;  and,  furthermore,  to  obtain 
from  General  Grant  an  order  to  suspend  the  movements  of 
any  troops  from  the  direction  of  Virginia.  General  Stoneman 
is  under  my  command,  and  my  order  will  suspend  any  devas- 
tation or  destruction  contemplated  by  him.  I  will  add  that 
I  really  desire  to  save  the  people  of  North  Carolina  the  dam- 
age they  would  sustain  by  the  march  of  this  army  through 
the  central  or  western  parts  of  the  State. 

"I  am,  with  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General." 

Two  days  later  Johnston  replied,  making  an   appointment 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  507 

for  a  meeting  with  General  Sherman  at  a  point  midway  be- 
tween the  two  armies.  General  Sherman  ordered  a  locomo- 
tive, and  was  about  to  start  when  a  telegraph  operator  came 
to  him  with  the  information  that  a  cipher  dispatch  was  then 
being  received  which  he  ought  to  see  before  departure.  He 
waited,  and  the  dispatch  proved  to  be  from  Mr.  Stanton, 
announcing  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the  attempt 
on  the  life  of  Mr.  Seward  and  his  son.  General  Sherman 
feared  the  effect  of  this  news  on  his  men,  and  ordered  the 
operator  to  keep  it  a  secret  till  his  return.  General  Sherman's 
account  of  the  interview  and  subsequent  negotiations  dis- 
closes some  of  the  causes  for  the  strong  attachment  felt  both 
by  him  and  General  Grant  for  General  Johnston. 

"We  soon  reached  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Bennett,  dismounted, 
and  left  our  horses  with  orderlies  in  the  road.  Our  offi- 
cers, on  foot,  passed  into  the  yard,  and  General  Johnston 
and  I  entered  the  small  frame-house.  We  asked  the  farmer 
if  we  could  have  the  use  of  his  house  for  a  few  minutes,  and 
he  and  his  wife  withdrew  into  a  smaller  log-house,  which 
stood  close  by. 

"As  soon  as  we  were  alone  together  I  showed  him  the  dis- 
patch announcing  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassination,  and  watched 
him  closely.  The  perspiration  came  out  in  large  drops  on  his 
forehead,  and  he  did  not  attempt  to  conceal  his  distress.  He 
denounced  the  act  as  a  disgrace  to  the  age,  and  hoped  I  did 
not  charge  it  to  the  Confederate  Government.  I  told  him  I 
could  not  believe  that  he  or  General  Lee,  or  the  officers  of 
the  Confederate  army,  could  possibly  be  privy  to  acts  of 
assassination;  but  I  would  not  say  as  much  for  Jeff.  Davis, 
George  Sanders,  and  men  of  that  stripe.  We  talked  about 
the  effect  of  this  act  on  the  country  at  large  and  on  the 
armies,  and  he  realized  that  it  made  my  situation  extremely 
delicate.  I  explained  to  him  that  I  had  not  yet  revealed  the 


$08  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

news  to  my  own  personal  staff  or  to  the  army,  and  that  1 
dreaded  the  effect  when  made  known  in  Raleigh.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  peculiarly  endeared  to  the  soldiers,  and  I  feared  that 
some  foolish  woman  or  man  in  Raleigh  might  say  something 
or  do  something  that  would  madden  our  men,  and  that  a  fate 
worse  than  that  of  Columbia  would  befall  the  place. 

"I  then  told  Johnston  that  he  must  be  convinced  that  he 
could  not  oppose  my  army,  and  that,  since  Lee  had  surren- 
dered, he  could  do  the  same  with  honor  and  propriety.  He 
plainly  and  repeatedly  admitted  this,  and  added  that  any  fur- 
ther fighting:  would  be  ' 'murder,'  but  he  thought  that,  instead 
of  surrendering  piecemeal,  we  might  arrange  terms  that  would 
embrace  all  the  Confederate  armies.  I  asked  him  if  he  could 
control  other  armies  than  his  own;  he  said  not  then,  but  in- 
timated that  he  could  procure  authority  from  Mr.  Davis.  I 
then  told  him  that  I  had  recently  had  an  interview  with  Gen- 
eral Grant  and  President  Lincoln,  and  that  I  was  possessed 
of  their  views;  that  with  them  and  the  people  North  there 
seemed  to  be  no  vindictive  feeling  against  the  Confed- 
erate armies,  but  there  was  against  Davis  and  his  political  ad- 
herents; and  that  the  terms  that  General  Grant  had  given  to 
General  Lee's  army  were  certainly  most  generous  and  liberal. 
All  this  he  admitted,  but  always  recurred  to  the  idea  of  a  uni- 
versal surrender,  embracing  his  own  army,  that  of  Dick  Tay- 
lor in  Louisiana  and  Texas,  and  of  Maury,  Forrest,  and 
others,  in  Alabama  and  Georgia.  General  Johnston's  account 
of  our  interview  in  his  'Narrative'  (page  402,  et  seq.)  is 
quite  accurate  and  correct,  only  I  do  not  recall  his  naming 
the  capitulation  of  Loeben,  to  which  he  refers.  Our  conver- 
sation was  very  general  and  extremely  cordial,  satisfying  me 
that  it  could  have  but  one  result,  and  that  which  we  all  de- 
sired, viz.,  to  end  the  war  as  quickly  as  possible;  and,  being 
anxious  to  return  to  Raleigh  before  the  news  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 


LIFE    OF   GENF.RAL    SHERMAN  509 

assassination  could  be  divulged,  on  General  Johnston's  saying 
that  he  thought  that  during  the  night  he  could  procure  au- 
thority to  act  in  the  name  of  all  the  Confederate  armies  in 
existence,  we  agreed  to  meet  again  the  next  day  at  noon  at 
the  same  place,  and  parted,  he  for  Hillsboro'  and  I  for 
Raleigh. 

"We  rode  back  to  Durham's  Station  in  the  order  we  had 
come,  and  then  I  showed  the  dispatch  announcing  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's death.  I  cautioned  the  officers  to  watch  the  soldiers 
closely,  to  prevent  any  violent  retaliation  by  them,  leaving 
that  to  the  Government  at  Washington;  and  on  our  way  back 
to  Raleigh  in  the  cars  I  showed  the  same  dispatch  to  General 
Logan  and  to  several  of  the  officers  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps 
that  were  posted  at  Morrisville  and  Jones'  Station,  all  of 
whom  were  deeply  impressed  by  it;  but  all  gave  their  opin- 
ion that  this  sad  news  should  not  change  our  general  course 
of  action. 

"As  soon  as  I  reached  Raleigh  I  published  the  following 
orders  to  the  army,  announcing  the  assassination  of  the  Presi- 
dent, and  I  doubt  if,  in  the  whole  land,  there  were  more  sin- 
cere mourners  over  his  sad  fate  than  there  were  in  and  about 
Raleigh.  I  watched  the  effect  closely,  and  was  gratified  that 
there  was  no  single  act  of  retaliation  thoi.0"-  I  saw  and  felt 
that  one  single  word  by  me  would  have  laid  the  city  in  ashes, 
and  turned  its  whole  population  houseless  upon  the  country, 
if  not  worse:" 

[SPECIAL  FIELD  ORDER,  NO.    56.] 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,   RALEIGH,  N.  C,  April  17,  1865.  f 

The  general  commanding  announces,  with  pain  and  sor- 
row, that  on  the  evening  of  the  I4th  instant,  at  the  theater  in 
Washington  City,  his  Excellency,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  assassinated  by  one  who 


51O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

uttered  the  State  motto  of  Virginia.  At  the  same  time  the 
Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Seward,  while  suffering  from  a  broken 
arm,  was  also  stabbed  by  another  murderer  in  his  own  house, 
but  still  survives,  and  his  son  was  wounded,  supposed  fatally. 
It  is  believed,  by  persons  capable  of  judging,  that  other 
high  officers  were  designed  to  share  the  same  fate.  Thus 
it  seems  that  our  enemy,  despairing  of  meeting  us  in  open, 
manly  warfare,  begins  to  resort  to  the  assassin's  tools. 

Your  general  does  not  wish  you  to  infer  that  this  is  univer- 
sal, for  he  knows  that  the  great  mass  of  the  Confederate  army 
would  scorn  to  sanction  such  acts,  but  he  believes  it  the  legit- 
imate consequence  of  Rebellion  against  rightful  authority. 

We  have  met  every  phase  which  this  war  has  assumed,  and 
must  now  be  prepared  for  it  in  its  last  and  worst  shape,  that 
of  assassins  and  guerrillas;  but  woe  unto  the  people  who  seek 
to  expend  their  wild  passions  in  such  a  manner,  for  there  is 
but  one  dread  result! 

By  order  of  Major- General  W.  T.  Sherman, 

L.  M.  DAYTON,  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

The  following  are  the  papers  signed  on  the  surrender  of 
Johnston's  army,  and  General  Sherman's  comments  on  them: 

TERMS  of  a  Military  Convention,  entered  into  this  25th  day 
of  April,  1865,  at  Bennett's  House,  near  Durham's  Sta- 
tion, North  Carolina,  between  General  JOSEPH  E.  JOHNS- 
TON, commanding  the  Confederate  Army,  and  Major- 
General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  commanding  the  United  States 
Army  in  North  Carolina: 

1.  All  acts  of  war  on  the  part  of  the  troops  under  General 
Johnston's  command  to  cease  from  this  date. 

2.  All  arms  and  public  property  to  be  deposited  at  Greens- 
boro',  and   delivered  to   an  ordnance  officer  of  the  United 
States  army. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  511 

3.  Rolls  of  all  the  officers  and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate; 
one  copy  to    be  retained    by  the  commander  of  the  troops, 
and  the   other  to   be  given  to   an  officer  to  be    designated  by 
General  Sherman.      Each  officer  and  man  to  give  his  individ- 
ual obligation  in  writing  not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United   States,  until   properly  released  from 
this  obligation. 

4.  The  side-arms  of  officers,  and  their  private    horses  and 
baggage,  to  be  retained  by  them. 

5.  This  being  done,  all  the   officers  and  men  will  be   per- 
mitted to  return  to   their  homes,  not  to  be   disturbed  by  the 
United  States  authorities,  so  long  as  they  observe  their  obliga- 
tion and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  may  reside. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General, 
Commanding  United  States  Forces  in  North  Carolina. 

J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  General, 

Commanding  Confederate  States  Forces  in  North  Carolina. 
Approved:  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

"I  returned  to  Raleigh  the  same  evening,  and,  at  my  re- 
quest, General  Grant  wrote  on  these  terms  his  approval,  and 
then  I  thought  the  matter  was  surely  at  an  end.  He  took 
the  original  copy,  on  the  2/th,  returned  to  Newbern,  and 
thence  went  back  to  Washington. 

"I  immediately  made  all  the  orders  necessary  to  carry  into 
effect  the  terms  of  this  convention,  devolving  on  General 
Schofield  the  details  of  granting  the  paroles  and  making  the 
muster-rolls  of  prisoners,  inventories  of  property,  etc.,  of  Gen- 
eral Johnston's  army  at  and  about  Greensboro',  North  Caro- 
lina, and  on  General  Wilson  the  same  duties  in  Georgia;  but 
thus  far  I  had  been  compelled  to  communicate  with  the 
latter  through  Rebel  sources,  and  General  Wilson  was  nec- 
essarily confused  by  the  conflict  of  orders  and  information.  I 


512  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

deemed  it  of  the  utmost  importance  to  establish  for  him  a 
more  reliable  base  of  information  and  supply,  and  accord- 
ingly resolved  to  go  in  person  to  Savannah  for  that  purpose. 
But  before  starting  I  received  a  New  York  Times,  of  April 
24,  containing  the  following  extraordinary  communications:" 

[FIRST  BULLETIN.] 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  April  22,  1865. 

Yesterday  evening  a  bearer  of  dispatches  arrived  from  Gen- 
eral Sherman.  An  agreement  for  a  suspension  of  hostilities, 
and  a  memorandum  of  what  is  called  a  basis  of  peace,  had 
been  entered  into  on  the  i8th  inst.  by  General  Sherman 
with  the  Rebel  General  Johnston.  Brigadier-General  Breck- 
enridge  was  present  at  the  conference. 

A  cabinet  meeting  was  held  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
at  which  the  action  of  General  Sherman  was  disapproved  by 
the  President,  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  by  General  Grant  and 
by  every  member  of  the  cabinet.  General  Sherman  was  or- 
dered to  resume  hostilities  immediately,  and  was  directed  that 
the  instructions  given  by  the  late  President,  in  the  following 
telegram,  which  was  penned  by  Mr.  Lincoln  himself,  at  the 
Capitol,  on  the  night  of  the  third  of  March,  were  approved 
by  President  Andrew  Johnson,  and  were  reiterated  to 
govern  the  action  of  military  commanders. 

On  the  night  of  the  3d  of  March,  while  President  Lincoln 
and  his  cabinet  were  at  the  Capitol,  a  telegram  from  General 
Grant  was  brought  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  informing  him 
that  General  Lee  had  requested  an  interview  or  conference, 
to  make  an  arrangement  for  terms  of  peace.  The  letter  of 
General  Lee  was  published  in  a  letter  to  Davis  and  to  the 
Rebel  Congress.  General  Grant's  telegram  was  submitted  to 
Mr.  Lincoln,  who,  after  pondering  a  few  minutes,  took  up  his 
pen,  and  wrote  with  his  own  hand  the  following  reply,  which 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  513 

he  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  State  and  Secretary  of  War. 
It  was  then  dated,  addressed,  and  signed  by  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  telegraphed  to  General  Grant: 

"WASHINGTON,  March  3,  1865 — 12  p.  M. 
"Lieutenant-General  GRANT: 

"The  President  directs  me  to  say  to  you  that  he  wishes  you 
to  have  no  conference  with  General  Lee,  unless  it  be  for  the 
capitulation  of  General  Lee's  army,  or  on  some  minor  or 
purely  military  matter.  He  instructs  me  to  say  that  you  are 
not  to  decide,  discuss,  or  confer  upon  any  political  questions. 
Such  questions  the  President  holds  in  his  own  hands,  and 
will  submit  them  to  no  military  conferences  or  conventions. 

"Meantime  you  are  to  press  to  the  utmost  your  military  ad- 
vantages. "EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War" 

The  orders  of  General  Sherman  to  General  Stoneman  to 
withdraw  from  Salisbury  and  join  him  will  probably  open  the 
way  for  Davis  to  escape  to  Mexico  or  Europe  with  his  plun- 
der, which  is  reported  to  be  very  large,  including  riot  only  the 
plunder  of  the  Richmond  banks,  but  previous  accumulations. 

A  dispatch  received  by  this  department  from  Richmond 
says:  "It  is  stated  here  by  respectable  parties  that  the  amount 
of  specie  taken  south  by  Jeff  Davis  and  his  partisans  is  very 
large,  including  not  only  the  plunder  of  the  Richmond  banks, 
but  previous  accumulations.  They  hope,  it  is  said,  to  make 
terms  with  General  Sherman,  or  some  other  commander,  by 
which  they  will  be  permitted,  with  their  effects,  including  this 
gold  plunder,  to  go  to  Mexico  or  Europe.  Johnston's  nego- 
tiations look  to  this  end." 

After  the  cabinet  meeting  last  night,  General  Grant  started 
for  North  Carolina,  to  direct  operations  against  Johnston's 
army.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

33 


514  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"Here  followed  the  terms,  and  Mr.  Stanton's  ten  reasons 
for  rejecting  them. 

"The  publication  of  this  bulletin  by  authority  was  an  out- 
rage on  me,  for  Mr.  Stanton  had  failed  to  communicate  to  me 
in  advance,  as  was  his  duty,  the  purpose  of  the  administration 
to  limit  our  negotiations  to  purely  military  matters;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  at  Savannah,  he  had  authorized  me  to  control 
all  matters,  civil  and  military. 

"By  this  bulletin  he  implied  that  I  had  previously  been 
furnished  with  a  copy  of  his  dispatch  of  March  3d,  to  General 
Grant,  which  was  not  so;  and  he  gave  warrant  to  the  im- 
pression, which  was  sown  broadcast,  that  I  might  be  bribed 
by  banker's  gold  to  permit  Davis  to  escape.  Under  the  in- 
fluence of  this,  I  wrote  General  Grant  the  following  letter  of 
April  28th,  which  has  been  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War. 

"I  regarded  this  bulletin  of  Mr.  Stanton  as  a  personal  and 
official  insult,  which  I  afterward  publicly  resented. 

"'GENERAL:  Since  you  left  me  yesterday,  I  have  seen  the 
New  York  Times  of  the  24th,  containing  a  budget  of  military 
news,  authenticated  by  the  signature  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  which  is  grouped  in  such  a  way  as  to 
give  the  public  very  erroneous  impressions.  It  embraces  a 
copy  of  the  basis  of  agreement  between  myself  and  General 
Johnston,  of  April  i8th,  with  comments,  which  it  will  be 
time  enough  to  discuss  two  or  three  years  hence,  after  the 
Government  has  experimented  a  little  more  in  the  machinery 
by  which  power  reaches  the  scattered  people  of  the  vast  coun- 
try known  as  the  "South." 

"'In  the  meantime,  however,  I  did  think  that  my  rank 
(if  not  past  services)  entitled  me  at  least  to  trust  that  the 
Secretary  of  War  would  keep  secret  what  was  communicated 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  515 

for  the  use  of  none  but  the  cabinet,  until  further  inquiry  could 
be  made,  instead  of  giving  publicity  to  it  along  with  documents 
which  I  never  saw,  and  drawing  therefrom  inferences  wide  of 
the  truth.  I  never  saw  or  had  furnished  me  a  copy  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  dispatch  to  you  of  the  3d  of  March,  nor  did  Mr. 
Stanton  or  any  human  being  ever  convey  to  me  its  substance, 
or  anything  like  it.  On  the  contrary,  I  had  seen  General 
Weitzel's  invitation  to  the  Virginia  Legislature,  made  in  Mr. 
Lincoln's  very  presence,  and  failed  to  discover  any  other 
official  hint  of  a  plan  of  reconstruction,  or  any  ideas  cal- 
culated to  allay  the  fears  of  the  people  of  the  South,  after  the 
destruction  of  their  armies  and  civil  authorities  would  leave 
them  without  any  government  whatever. 

"'We  should  not  drive  a  people  into  anarchy,  and  it  is  sim- 
ply impossible  for  our  military  power  to  reach  all  the  masses 
of  their  unhappy  country. 

"'I  confess  I  did  not  desire  to  drive  General  Johnston's 
army  into  bands  of  armed  men,  going  about  without  purpose, 
and  capable  only  of  infinite  mischief.  But  you  saw,  on  your 
arrival  here,  that  I  had  my  army  so  disposed  that  his  escape 
was  only  possible  in  a  disorganized  shape;  and  as  you  did  not 
choose  to  "direct  military  operations  in  this  quarter,"  I  in- 
terred that  you  were  satisfied  with  the  military  situation;  at 
all  events  the  instant  I  learned,  what  was  proper  enough,  the 
disapproval  ot  the  President,  I  acted  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
compel  the  surrender  of  General  Johnston's  whole  army  on  the 
same  terms  which  you  had  prescribed  to  General  Lee's  army, 
when  you  had  it  surrounded  and  in  your  absolute  power. 

"  'Mr.  Stanton,  in  stating  that  my  orders  to  General  Stone- 
man  were  likely  to  result  in  the  escape  of  "Mr.  Davis  to 
Mexico  or  Europe,"  is  in  deep  error.  General  Stoneman 
was  not  at  "Salisbury,"  but 'had  gone  back  to  "Statesville." 
Davis  was  between  us,  and  therefore  Stoneman  was  beyond 


5l6  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

him.  By  turning  toward  me  he  was  approaching  Davis, 
and,  had  he  joined  me  as  ordered,  I  would  have  had  a  mounted 
force  greatly  needed  for  Davis'  capture,  and  for  other  pur- 
poses. Even  now  I  don't  know  that  Mr.  Stanton  wants 
Davis  caught,  and  as  my  official  papers,  deemed  sacred,  are 
hastily  published  to  the  world,  it  will  be  imprudent  for  me 
to  state  what  has  been  done  in  that  regard. 

"  'As  the  editor  of  the  Times  has  (it  may  be)  logically  and 
fairly  drawn  from  this  singular  document  the  conclusion  that 
I  am  insubordinate,  I  can  only  deny  the  intention. 

"'I  have  never  in  my  life  questioned  or  disobeyed  an  order, 
though  many  and  many  a  time  have  I  risked  my  life,  health, 
and  reputation,  in  obeying  orders,  or  even  hints  to  execute 
plans  and  purposes,  not  to  my  liking.  It  is  not  fair  to  withold 
from  me  the  plans  and  policy  of  the  Government  (if  any 
there  be),  and  expect  me  to  guess  at  them;  for  facts  and 
events  appear  quite  different  from  different  standpoints. 
For  four  years  I  have  been  in  camp  dealing  with  soldiers, 
and  I  can  assure  you  that  the  conclusion  at  which  the  cabi- 
net arrived  with  such  singular  unanimity  differs  from  mine. 
I  conferred  freely  with  the  best  officers  in  this  army  as  to  the 
points  involved  in  this  controversy,  and,  strange  to  say,  they 
were  singularly  unanimous  in  the  other  conclusion.  They  will 
learn  with  pain  and  amazement  that  I  am  deemed  insubordi- 
nate, and  wanting  in  common-sense;  that  I,  who  for  four 
years  have  labored  day  and  night,  winter  and  summer,  who 
have  brought  an  army  of  seventy  thousand  men  in  magnifi- 
cent condition  across  a  country  hitherto  deemed  impassable, 
and  placed  it  just  where  it  was  wanted,  on  the  day  appointed, 
have  brought  discredit  on  our  Government!  I  do  not  wish 
to  boast  of  this,  but  I  do  say  that  it  entitled  me  to  the  court- 
esy of  being  consulted,  before  publishing  to  the  world  a  prop- 
osition rightfully  submitted  to  higher  authority  for  adjudi- 


LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  517 

cation,  and  then  accompanied  by  statements  which  invited 
the  dogs  of  the  press  to  be  let  loose  upon  me.  It  is  true 
that  non-combatants,  men  who  sleep  in  comfort  and  security, 
while  we  watch  on  the  distant  lines,  are  better  able  to  judge 
than  we  poor  soldiers,  who  rarely  see  a  newspaper,  hardly 
hear  from  our  families,  or  stop  long  enough  to  draw  our  pay. 
I  envy  not  the  task  of  "reconstruction,"  and  am  delighted 
that  the  Secretary  of  War  has  relieved  me  of  it. 

u<As  you  did  not  undertake  to  assume  the  management  of  the 
affairs  of  this  army,  I  infer  that,  on  personal  inspection,  your 
mind  arrived  at  a  different  conclusion  from  that  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  War.  I  will  therefore  go  on  to  execute  your  orders 
to  the  conclusion,  and,  when  done,  will  with  intense  satisfac- 
tion leave  to  the  civil  authorities  the  execution  of  the  task  of 
which  they  seem  so  jealous.  But,  as  an  honest  man  and 
soldier,  I  invite  them  to  go  back  to  Nashville  and  follow  my 
path,  for  they  will  see  some  things  and  hear  some  things 
that  may  disturb  their  philosophy. 
"'With  sincere  respect, 

"'W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General  commanding. 

«<p.  S. — As  Mr.  Stanton's  most  singular  paper  has  been 
published,  I  demand  that  this  also  be  made  public,  though  I 
am  in  no  manner  responsible  to  the  press,  but  to  the  law, 
and  my  proper  superior^. 

<"W.  T.  S.,  Major-General.'" 

MILITARY  CONVENTION  OF  APRIL  26,    1865. 
SUPPLEMENTAL   TERMS. 

That  the  Confederate  army  might  return  to  their  homes, 
the  following  supplemental  terms  were  made: 

i.  The  field  transportation  to  be  loaned  to  the  troops  foi 
their  march  to  their  homes,  and  for  subsequent  use  in  their 


5l8  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

industrial  pursuits.      Artillery  horses  may    be   used  in   field 
transportation,  if  necessary. 

2.  Each  brigade   or  separate   body  to  retain   a  number  ot 
arms  equal  to  one-seventh    of    its   effective  strength,  which, 
when   the  troops  reach  the  capitals  of   their    States,  will  be 
disposed   of  as  the  general  commanding  the  department  may 
direct. 

3.  Private  horses,    and  other  private  property  of  both  offi- 
cers and  men,  to  be  retained  by  them. 

4.  The   commanding   general   of  the   Military  Division  of 
West  Mississippi,  Major-General  Canby,  will  be  requested  to 
give  transportation  by  water,  from   Mobile  or  New  Orleans, 
to  the  troops  from  Arkansas  and  Texas. 

5.  The  obligations  of  officers  and  soldiers  to  be   signed  by 
their  immediate  commanders. 

6.  Naval    forces  within  the  limits   of   General  Johnston's 
command  to  be  included  in  the  terms  of  this  convention. 

J.  M.  SCHOFIELD,  Major-General, 
Commanding  United  States  Forces  in  North  Carolina. 

J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  General, 
Commanding  Confederate  States  Forces  in  North  Carolina. 

On  the  5th  of  May  General  Sherman  received  the  follow- 
ing from  General  Schofield.  As  it  leads  up  to  the  attack  on 
General  Sherman  by  Mr.Stanton,it  is  fair  that  our  command- 
er's side  of  that  affair  should  be  always  at  hand.  This  was 
the  second  attack  on  General  Sherman;  the  first  sought  to 
destroy  him  at  the  commencement  of  the  war — this  to  nullify 
his  great  work: 

"RALEIGH,  NORTH  CAROLINA,  May  5,  1885. 
"  To  Major-General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,   Morehead  City. 

"When  General  Grant  was  here,  as  you  doubtless  recol- 
lect, he  said  the  lines  (for  trade  and  intercourse)  had  been  ex- 


LIFE   OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN.  519 

tended  to  embrace  this  and  other  States  south.  The  order, 
it  seems,  has  been  modified  so  as  to  include  only  Virginia  and 
Tennessee.  I  think  it  would  be  an  act  of  wisdom  to  open 
this  State  to  trade  at  once. 

"I  hope  the  Government  will  make  known  its  policy  as  to 
the  organs  of  State  government  without  delay.  Affairs  must 
necessarily  be  in  a  very  unsettled  state  until  that  is  done. 
The  people  are  now  in  a  mood  to  accept  almost  anything 
which  promises  a  definite  settlement.  'What  is  to  be  done 
with  the  freedmen?'  is  the  question  of  all,  and  it  is  the  all- 
important  question.  It  requires  prompt  and  wise  action  to 
prevent  the  negroes  from  becoming  a  huge  elephant  on  our 
hands.  If  I  am  to  govern  this  State,  it  is  important  for  me 
to  know  it  at  once.  If  another  is  to  be  sent  here,  it  cannot 
be  done  too  soon,  for  he  probably  will  undo  the  most  that  I 
shall  have  done.  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  fully, 
when  you  have  time  to  write.  I  will  send  your  message  to 
General  Wilson  at  once. 

"J.  M.  SCHOFIELD,  Major-General" 
Says  General  Sherman: 

"I  was  utterly  without  instructions  from  any  source  on 
the  points  of  General  Schofield's  inquiry,  and  under  the  ex- 
isting state  of  facts  could  not  even  advise  him,  for  by  this 
time  I  was  in  possession  of  the  second  bulletin  of  Mr.  Stan- 
ton,  published  in  all  the  Northern  papers,  with  comments 
that  assumed  that  I  was  a  common  traitor  and  a  public 
enemy;  and  high  officials  had  even  instructed  my  own  subor- 
dinates to  disobey  my  lawful  orders.  General  Halleck,  who 
had  so  long  been  in  Washington  as  the  chief  of  staff,  had 
been  sent  on  the  2ist  of  April  to  Richmond,  to  command  the 
armies  of  the  Potomac  and  James,  in  place  of  General  Grant, 
who  had  transferred  his  headquarters  to  the  National  capital, 


52O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

and  he  (General  Halleck)  was  therefore  in  supreme  com- 
mand in  Virginia,  while  my  command  over  North  Caro- 
lina had  never  been  revoked  or  modified." 

[SECOND  BULLETIN.] 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  April  27 — 9:30  A.  M. 
To  Major-General  Dix: 

The  department  has  received  the  following  dispatch  from 
Major-General  Halleck,  commanding  the  military  Division  of 
the  James.  Generals  Canby  and  Thomas  were  instructed  some 
days  ago  that  Sherman's  arrangements  with  Johnston  were 
disapproved  by  the  President,  and  they  were  ordered  to  dis- 
regard it,  and  push  the  enemy  in  every  direction. 

E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

"RICHMOND,  VIRGINIA,  April  26 — 9:30?.  M. 
"Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  Wan 

"Generals  Meade,  Sheridan  and  Wright  are  acting  umder 
orders  to  pay  no  regard  to  any  truce  or  orders  of  General 
Sherman  respecting  hostilities,  on  the  ground  that  Sherman's 
agreement  could  bind  his  command  only,  and  no  other. 

"They  are  directed  to  push  forward,  regardless  of  orders 
from  any  one  except  from  General  Grant,  and  cut  off  John- 
ston's retreat. 

"Beauregard  has  telegraphed  to  Danville  that  a  new 
arrangement  has  been  made  with  Shermaia,  and  that  the  ad- 
vance of  the  Sixth  Corps  was  to  ba  suspended  until  further 
orders. 

"I  have  telegraphed  back  to  obey  no  orders  of  Sherman's, 
but  to  push  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

"The  bankers  here  have  information  to-day  that  Jeff.  Davis' 
specie  is  moving  south  from  Goldsboro',  in  wagons,  as  fast  as 
possible. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN.  521 

'•I  suggest  that  orders  be  telegraphed,  through  General 
Thomas,  that  Wilson  obey  no  orders  from  Sherman,  and  noti- 
fying him  and  Canby,  and  all  commanders  on  the  Mississippi, 
to  take  measures  to  intercept  the  Rebel  chiefs  and  their  plun- 
der. 

"The  specie  taken  with  them  is  estimated  here  at  from  six 
to  thirteen  million  dollars. 

"H.  W.  HALLECK,   Major-General  commanding" 
General  Sherman  continues: 

"Subsequently,  before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of 
the  War,  in  Washington,  on  the  22d  of  May,  I  testified  fully 
on  this  whole  matter,  and  will  abide  the  judgment  of  the 
country  on  the  patriotism  and  wisdom  of  my  public  conduct 
in  this  connection.  General  Halleck's  measures  to  capture 
General  Johnston's  army,  actually  surrendered  to  me  at  the 
time,  at  Greensboro',  on  the  26th  of  April,  simply  excited 
my  contempt  for  a  judgment  such  as  he  was  supposed  to 
possess.  The  assertion  that  Jeff.  Davis'  specie-train,  of  six 
to  thirteen  million  dollars,  was  reported  to  be  moving  south 
from  Goldsboro'  in  wagons  as  fast  as  possible,  found  plenty 
of  willing  ears,  though  my  army  of  eighty  thousand  men  had 
been  at  Goldsboro'  from  March  22d  to  the  date  of  his  dis- 
patch, April  26th;  and  such  a  train  would  have  been  composed 
of  from  fifteen  to  thirty-two  six-mule  teams  to  have  hauled 
this  specie,  even  if  it  all  were  in  gold.  I  suppose  the  exact 
amount  of  treasure  which  Davis  had  with  him  is  now  known 
to  a  cent;  some  of  it  was  paid  to  his  escort,  when  it  dis- 
banded at  and  near  Washington,  Georgia,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  capture  he  had  a  small  parcel  of  gold  and  silver  coin, 
not  to  exceed  ten  thousand  dollars,  which  is  now  retained  in 
the  United  States  Treasury  vault  at  Washington,  and  shown 
the  curious. 


522  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

"The  thirteen  millions  of  treasure,  with  which  Jeff.  Davis 
was  to  corrupt  our  armies  and  buy  his  escape,  dwindled  down 
to  the  contents  of  a  hand-valise! 

"To  say  that  I  was  merely  angry  at  the  tone  and  substance 
of  these  published  bulletins  of  the  War  Department,  would 
hardly  express  the  state  of  my  feelings.  I  was  outraged  be- 
yond measure,  and  was  resolved  to  resent  the  insult,  cost 
what  it  might.  I  went  to  the  Wayanda  and  showed  them 
to  Mr.  Chase,  with  whom  I  had  a  long  and  frank  conversa- 
tion, during  which  he  explained  to  me  the  confusion  caused 
in  Washington  by  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  sud- 
den accession  to  power  of  Mr.  Johnson,  who  was  then  sup- 
posed to  be  bitter  and  vindictive  in  his  feelings  toward  the 
South,  and  the  wild  pressure  of  every  class  of  politicians  to 
enforce  on  the  new  President  their  pet  schemes.  He  showed 
me  a  letter  of  his  own,  which  was  in  print,  dated  Baltimore, 
April  nth,  and  another  of  April  I2th,  addressed  to  the 
President,  urging  him  to  recognize  the  freedmen  as  equal  in 
all  respects  to  the  whites.  He  was  the  first  man,  of  any  au- 
thority or  station,  who  ever  informed  me  that  1  he  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  would  insist  on  extending  to  the 
former  slaves  of  the  South  the  elective  franchise,  and  he 
gave  as  a  reason  the  fact  that  the  slaves,  grateful  for  their  free- 
dom, for  which  they  were  indebted  to  the  armies  and  Gov- 
ernment of  the  North,  would  by  their  votes,  offset  the  disaffect- 
ed and  Rebel  element  of  the  white  population  of  the  South." 

General  Sherman  now  proceeded  toward  Washington  in 
company  with  Secretary  Chase,  and  at  the  first  opportunity 
informed  Mr.  Stanton  that  he  did  not  wish  to  meet  him  on 
any  account;  that  he  resented  the  insult  offered  him,  and 
that  he  certainly  would  not  accept  hospitality  at  his  hands. 
His  story  of  the  review  of  the  troops  at  Washington  is  one 
that  has  been  read  at  many  camp-fires.  That  it  was  writtrn 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  523 

by  Sherman  the  man,  rather  than  the  soldier,  is  proved  in 
every  line,  as  well  as  by  his  last  order  to  his  army,  with 
which  fittingly  this  portion  of  my  work  must  end: 

"By  invitation  I  was  on  the  reviewing  stand,  and  witnessed 
the  review  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  (on  the  23d),  com- 
manded by  General  Meade  in  person.  The  day  was  beautiful, 
and  the  pageant  was  superb.  Washington  was  full  of  stran- 
gers, who  filled  the  streets  in  holiday  dress,  and  every  house 
was  decorated  with  flags.  The  army  marched  by  divisions 
in  close  column  around  the  Capitol,  down  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  past  the  President  and  cabinet,  who  occupied  a  large 
stand  prepared  for  the  occasion,  directly  in  front  of  the  White 
House. 

"I  had  telegraphed  to  Lancaster  for  Mrs.  Sherman,  who 
arrived  that  day,  accompanied  by  her  father,  the  Hon.  Thomas 
Ewing,  and  my  son  Tom,  then,  eight  years  old. 

"During  the  afternoon  and  night  of  the  23d,  the  Fifteenth, 
Seventeenth,  and  Twentieth  Corps  crossed  Long  Bridge,  biv- 
ouacked in  the  streets  about  the  Capitol,  and  the  Fourteenth 
Corps  closed  up  to  the  bridge.  The  morning  of  the  24th  was 
extremely  beautiful,  and  the  ground  was  in  splendid  order  for 
our  review.  The  streets  were  filled  with  people  to  see  the 
pageant,  armed  with  bouquets  of  flowers  for  thier  favorite 
regiments  or  heroes,  and  everything  was  propitious.  Punctu- 
ally at  9  A.  M.  the  signal-gun  was  fired,  when  in  person,  at- 
tended by  General  Howard  and  all  my  staff,  I  rode  slowly 
down  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  the  crowds  of  men,  women,  and 
children  densely  lining  the  sidewalks,  and  almost  obstructing 
the  way.  We  were  followed  close  by  General  Logan  and 
the  head  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps.  When  I  reached  the 
Treasury  building,  and  looked  back,  the  sight  was  simply 
magnificent.  The  column  was  compact,  and  the  glittering 
muskets  looked  like  a  solid  mass  of  steel,  moving  with  the 


524  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

regularity  of  a  pendulum.  We  passed  the  Treasury  build- 
ing, in  front  of  which  and  of  the  White  House  was  an 
immense  throng  of  people,  for  whom  extensive  stands  had 
been  prepared  on  both  sides  of  the  avenue.  As  I  neared 
the  brick  house  opposite  the  lower  corner  of  Lafayette 
Square,  some  one  asked  me  to  notice  Mr.  Seward,  who,  still 
feeble  and  bandaged  for  his  wounds,  had  been  removed  there 
that  he  might  behold  the  troops.  I  moved  in  that  direction 
and  took  off  my  hat  to  Mr.  Seward,  who  sat  at  an  upper 
window.  He  recognized  the  salute,  returned  it,  and  then  we 
rode  on  steadily  past  the  President,  saluting  with  our  swords. 
All  on  his  stand  arose  and  acknowledged  the  salute.  Then, 
turning  into  the  gate  of  the  Presidential  grounds,  we  left  our 
horses  with  orderlies,  and  went  upon  the  stand,  where  I  found 
Mrs.  Sherman,  with  her  father  and  son.  Passing  them,  I 
shook  hands  with  the  President,  General  Grant,  and  each 
member  of  the  cabinet.  As  I  approached  Mr.  Stanton  he 
offered  me  his  hand,  but  I  declined  it  publicly,  and  the  fact 
was  universally  noticed.  I  then  took  my  post  on  the  left  of 
the  President,  and  for  six  hours  and  a  half  stood,  while  the 
army  passed  in  the  order  of  the  Fifteenth,  Seventeenth, 
Twentieth,  and  Fourteenth  Corps.  It  was  in  my  judgment, 
the  most  magnificent  army  in  existence — sixty-five  thousand 
men,  in  splendid  physique,  who  had  just  completed  a  march 
of  nearly  two  thousand  miles  in  a  hostile  country,  in  good 
drill,  and  who  realized  that  they  were  being  closely  scrutinized 
by  thousands  of  their  fellow-countrymen  and  by  foreigners. 
Division  after  division  passed,  each  commander  of  an  army 
corps  or  division  coming  on  the  stand  during  the  passage  of 
his  command,  to  be  presented  to  the  President,  cabinet,  and 
spectators.  The  steadiness  and  firmness  of  the  tread,  the 
careful  dress  on  the  guides,  the  uniform  intervals  between  the 
companies,  all  eyes  directly  to  the  front,  and  the  tattered 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  525 

and  bullet-ridden  flags,  festooned  with  flowers,  all  attracted 
universal  notice.  Many  good  people  up  to  that  time  had 
looked  upon  our  Western  army  as  a  sort  of  mob;  but  the 
world  then  saw  and  recognized  the  fact  that  it  was  an  army 
in  the  proper  sense,  well  organized,  well  commanded  and 
disciplined;  and  there  was  no  wonder  that  it  had  swept 
through  the  South  like  a  tornado.  For  six  hours  and  a  half 
that  strong  tread  of  the  Army  of  the  West  resounded  along 
Pennsylvania  Avenue.  Not  a  soul  of  that  vast  crowd  of 
spectators  left  his  place;  and  when  the  rear  of  the  column  had 
passed  by,  thousands  of  the  spectators  still  lingered  to  ex- 
press their  sense  of  confidence  in  the  strength  of  a  Govern- 
ment which  could  claim  such  an  army. 

"Some  little  scenes  enlivened  the  day,  and  called  for  the 
laughter  and  cheers  of  the  crowd.  Each  division  was  followed 
by  six  ambulances,  as  a  representative  of  its  baggage  train. 
Some  of  the  division  commanders  had  added,  by  way  of  variety, 
goats,  milch  cows,  and  pack-mules,  whose  loads  consisted  of 
game-cocks,  poultry,  hams,  etc.,  and  some  of  them  had  the 
families  of  freed  slaves  along,  with  the  women  leading  their 
children.  Each  division  was  preceded  by  its  corps  of  black 
pioneers,  armed  with  picks  and  spades.  These  marched 
abreast  in  double  ranks,  keeping  perfect  dress  and  step,  and 
added  much  to  the  interest  of  the  occasion.  On  the  whole, 
the  grand  review  was  a  splendid  success,  and  was  a  fitting 
conclusion  of  the  campaign  and  the  war. 

"I  will  now  conclude  by  a  copy  of  my  general  orders  tak- 
ing leave  of  the  army,  which  ended  my  connection  with  the 
war,  though  I  afterward  visited  and  took  a  more  formal 
leave  of  the  officers  and  men  on  July  4,  1865,  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky :;> 


526  LIFE    OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

[SPECIAL  FIELD  ORDERS,    NO.    76.] 

HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  Miss.,  ) 
IN  THE  FIELD,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  30,  1865.  ( 

The  general  commanding  announces  to  the  Armies  of  the 
Tennessee  and  Georgia  that  the  time  has  come  for  us  to  part. 
Our  work  is  done,  and  armed  enemies  no  longer  defy  us. 
Some  of  you  will  go  to  your  homes,  and  others  will  be  re- 
tained in  military  service  till  further  orders.  ( 

And  now  that  we  are  all  about  to  separate,  to  mingle  with 
the  civil  world,  it  becomes  a  pleasing  duty  to  recall  to  mind 
the  situation  of  national  affairs  when,  but  little  more  than  a 
year  ago,  we  were  gathered  about  the  cliffs  of  Lookout  Mount- 
ain, and  all  the  future  was  wrapped  in  doubt  and  uncertain- 

ty- 

Three  armies  had  come  together  from  distant  fields,  with 
separate  histories,  yet  bound  by  one  common  cause — the 
union  of  our  country,  and  the  perpetuation  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  our  inheritance.  There  is  no  need  to  recall  to  your 
memories  Tunnel  Hill,  with  Rocky-Face  Mountain  and 
Buzzard-Roost  Gap,  and  the  ugly  forts  of  Dalton  behind. 

We  were  in  earnest,  and  paused  not  for  danger  and  diffi- 
culty, but  dashed  through  Snake-Creek  Gap  and  fell  on 
Resaca;  then  on  to  the  Etowah,  to  Dallas,  Kenesaw;  and 
the  heats  of  summer  found  us  on  the  banks  of  the  Chatta- 
hoochee,  far  from  home,  and  dependent  on  a  single  road  for 
supplies.  Again  we  were  not  to  be  held  back  by  any  obsta- 
cle, and  crossed  over  and  fought  four  hard  battles  for  the 
possession  of  the  citadel  of  Atlanta.  That  was  the  crisis 
of  our  history.  A  doubt  still  clouded  our  future,  but  we 
solved  the  problem,  destroyed  Atlanta,  struck  boldly  across 
the  State  of  Georgia,  severed  all  the  main  arteries  of  life  to 
our  enemy,  and  Christmas  found  us  at  Savannah. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  527 

Waiting  there  only  long  enough  to  fill  our  wagons,  we  again 
began  a  march  which,  for  peril,  labor,  and  results,  will  com- 
pare with  any  ever  made  by  an  organized  army.  The  floods 
of  the  Savannah,  the  swamps  of  the  Combahee  and  Edisto, 
the  "high  hills"  and  rocks  of  the  Santee,  the  flat  quagmires 
of  the  Pedee  and  Cape  Fear  rivers,  were  all  passed  in  mid- 
winter, with  its  floods  and  rains,  in  the  face  of  an  accumulat- 
ing enemy;  and,  after  the  battles  of  Averysboro'  and  Ben- 
tonsville,  we  once  more  came  out  of  the  wilderness,  to  meet 
our  friends  at  Goldsboro'.  Even  then  we  paused  only  long 
enough  to  get  new  clothing,  to  reload  our  wagons,  again 
pushed  on  to  Raleigh  and  beyond,  until  we  met  our  enemy 
suing  for  peace  instead  of  war,  and  offering  to  submit  to  the 
injured  laws  of  his  and  our  country.  As  long  as  that  enemy 
was  defiant,  nor  mountains,  nor  rivers,  nor  swamps,  nor 
hunger,  nor  cold,  had  checked  us;  but  when  he,  who  had 
fought  us  hard  and  persistently,  offered  submission,  your  Gen- 
eral thought  it  wrong  to  pursue  him  farther,  and  negotiations 
followed,  which  resulted,  as  you  all  know,  in  his  surrender. 

How  far  the  operations  of  this  army  contributed  to  the 
final  overthrow  of  the  Confederacy  and  the  peace  which  now 
dawns  upon  us,  must  be  judged  by  others,  not  by  us;  but 
that  you  have  done  all  that  men  could  do  has  been  admitted 
by  those  in  authority,  and  we  have  a  right  to  join  in  the  uni- 
versal joy  that  fills  our  land  because  the  war  is  over,  and  our 
Government  stands  vindicated  before  the  world  by  the  joint 
action  of  the  volunteer  armies  and  navy  of  the  United  States. 

To  such  as  remain  in  the  service  your  General  need  only  re- 
mind you  that  success  in  the  past  was  due  to  hard  work  and 
discipline,  and  that  the  same  work  and  discipline  are  equally 
important  in  the  future.  To  such  as  go  home  he  will  only 
say  that  our  favored  country  is  so  grand,  so  extensive,  so 
diversified  in  climate,  soil,  and  productions,  that  every  man 


528  LIFE    OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

may  find  a  home  and  occupation  suited  to  his  taste;  none 
should  yield  to  the  natural  impatience  sure  to  result  from  our 
past  life  of  excitement  and  adventure.  You  will  be  invited 
to  seek  new  adventures  abroad;  do  not  yield  to  the  tempta- 
tion, for  it  will  lead  only  to  death  and  disappointment. 

Your  general  now  bids  you  farewell,  with  the  full  belief 
that,  as  in  war  you  have  been  good  soldiers,  so  in  peace  you 
will  make  good  citizens;  and  if,  unfortunately,  new  war 
should  arise  in  our  country,  "Sherman's  army"  will  be  the 
first  to  buckle  on  its  old  armor,  and  come  forth  to  defend 
and  maintain  the  Government  of  our  inheritance. 

By  order  of  Major-General  W.  T.  Sherman, 

L.  M.  DAYTON,  Assistant  Adjutant  General. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SERVICES  IN  PEACE DEATH. 

Not  the  greatest  services  to  his  country  were  rendered  by 
General  Sherman  during  the  war.  Conflict  had  ceased,  and 
those  who  had  been  fighting  four  years  returned  to  peaceful 
pursuits.  In  every  State  of  the  Union  there  were  soldiers 
in  factories,  on  the  farm  and  in  commercial  pursuits.  But 
they  claimed  their  commanders  as  part  of  their  present  as 
of  their  past  lives.  This  was  especially  so  with  those  who 
had  served  under  General  Sherman.  For  them  there  was 
never  any  of  that  feeling  of  estrangement  as  in  some  cases 
was  felt  against  those  officers  who  entered  political  life  after 
the  war  closed. 

As  soldiers  we  watched  the  performance  of  Sherman's  duties 
while  acting  on  the  frontier  and  guarding  the  Pacific  rail- 
roads. As  soldiers  we  rejoiced  at  his  advance  to  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant-General,  and  then,  when  Grant  was  made  Presi- 
dent, to  the  rank  of  General.  As  his  friends  we  cordially 
grasped  his  hand  when  he  laid  down  the  latter  position  that 
General  Sheridan  might  be  tendered  the  honor.  But  the 
great  delight  of  all  who  had  ever  served  under  General  Sher- 
man was  when  meeting  him  at  the  reunions  of  the  Grand 
Army.  Upon  these  occasions  his  presence  had  more  to  do 
with  bringing  back  old  memories  than  all  other  incidents  com- 
bined. In  every  position  in  life  General  Sherman  had  proved 
his  honesty  and  sincerity  of  purpose.  When  the  war  was 
over  and  the  political  intrigues  at  Washington  disgusted  him, 
he  applied  for  permission  to  remove  the  headquarters  of  the 
army  to  St.  Louis,  that  he  might  be  out  of  an  atmosphere  in 
34  529 


530  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

which  he  could  find  no  pleasure.  When,  in  1884,  it  was 
sought  to  draw  him  into  political  life,  by  making  him  the 
nominee  of  a  party  for  the  presidency,  he  refused  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  matter,  though  it  was  evident  he 
could  have  had  the  nomination  had  he  so  desired.  The  fol- 
lowing statement  was  first  published  in  the  North  American 
Review : 

"In  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1884,  there  was  to  be  a  sharp 
contest  for  the  nomination,  in  Chicago,  for  a  Presidential 
candidate  of  the  republican  party.  The  press  and  people 
generally  believed  that  Elaine  wanted  it,  and  everybody  turned 
to  him  as  the  man  best  qualified  to  execute  the  policy  to  ac- 
complish the  result  aimed  at.  Still,  abnegating  himself,  he 
wrote  to  me  from  Washington  this  letter: 

^"Confidential,  strictly  and  absolutely  soJ\ 

"'WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  25,  1884. 

"'My  DEAR  GENERAL:  This  letter  requires  no  answer. 
After  reading  it,  file  it  away  in  your  most  secret  drawer,  or 
give  it  to  the  flames. 

'"At  the  approaching  convention  at  Chicago  it  is  more  than 
possible,  it  is  indeed  not  improbable,  that  you  may  be  nomi- 
nated for  the  presidency.  If  so,  you  must  stand  your  hand, 
accept  the  responsibility,  and  assume  the  duties  of  the  place 
to  which  you  will  surely  be  chosen  if  a  candidate. 

'"You  must  not  look  upon  it  as  the  work  of  the  politicians. 
If  it  comes  to  you,  it  will  come  as  the  ground  swell  of  popu- 
lar demand,  and  you  can  no  more  refuse  than  you  could  have 
refused  to  obey  an  order  when  you  were  a  lieutenant  in  the 
army.  If  it  comes  to  you  at  all,  it  will  come  as  a  call  of  patriot- 
ism. It  would  in  such  an  event  injure  your  great  fame  as  much 
to  decline  it  as  it  would  for  you  to  seek  it.  Your  historic  rec- 
ord, full  as  it  is,  would  be  rendered  still  more  glorious  by  such 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  531 

an  administration  as  you  would  be  able  to  give  the  country. 
Do  not  say  a  word  in  advance  of  the  convention,  no  matter 
who  may  ask  you.  You  are  with  your  friends,  who  will 
jealously  guard  your  honor  and  renown. 

Your  friend,  JAMES  G.  ELAINE.' 


., . 


"To  which  I  replied: 

"'912  GARRISON  AVENUE,  ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  28,  1884. 
"'Hon.  JAMES  G.  ELAINE,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"'MY  DEAR  FRIEND:  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 
25th;  shall  construe  it  as  absolutely  confidential,  not  intimat- 
ing even  to  any  member  of  my  family  that  I  have  heard  from 
you,  and  though  you  may  not  expect  an  answer,  I  hope  you 
will  not  construe  one  as  unwarranted. 

"'I  have  had  a  great  many  letters  from  all  points  of  the 
compass  to  a  similar  effect,  one  or  two  of  which  I  ahave  an- 
swered frankly;  but  the  great  mass  are  unanswered. 

"'I  ought  not  to  submit  myself  to  the  cheap  ridicule  of  declin- 
ing what  is  not  offered,  but  it  is  only  fair  to  the  many  really 
able  men  who  rightfully  aspire  to  the  high  honor  of  being  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  to  let  them  know  that  I  am  not  and 
must  not  be  construed  as  a  rival.  In  every  man's  life  oc- 
curs an  epoch  when  he  must  choose  his  own  career,  and  when 
he  may  not  throw  off  the  responsibility,  or  tamely  place  his 
destiny  in  the  hands  of  friends.  Mine  occurred,  in  Louisiana 
when,  in  1861,  alone  in  the  midst  of  a  people  blinded  by  sup- 
posed wrongs,  I  resolved  to  stand  by  the  Union  as  long  as  a 
fragment  of  it  survived  on  which  to  cling.  Since  then,  through 
faction,  tempest,  war,  and  peace,  my  career  has  been  all  my 
family  and  friends  could  ask.  We  are  now  in  a  good  house 
of  our  own  choice,  with  reasonable  provisions  for  old  age, 
surrounded  by  kind  and  admiring  friends,  in  a  community 


532  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

where  Catholicism  is  held  in  respect  and  veneration,  and 
where  my  children  will  naturally  grow  up  in  contact  with  an 
industrious  and  frugal  people.  You  have  known  and  appre- 
ciated Mrs.  Sherman  from  childhood,  have  also  known  each 
and  all  the  members  of  my  family,  and  can  understand  with- 
out an  explanation  from  me  how  their  thoughts  and  feelings 
should  and  ought  to  influence  my  action.  But  I  will  not 
even  throw  off  on  them  the  responsibility. 

"ll  will  not  in  any  event  entertain  or  accept  a  nomination 
as  a  candidate  for  President  by  the  Chicago  republican  conven- 
tion, or  any  other  convention,  for  reasons  personal  to  myself. 
I  claim  that  the  civil  war,  in  which  I  simply  did  a  man's  fair 
share  of  work,  so  perfectly  accomplished  peace  that  military 
men  have  an  absolute  right  to  rest  and  to  demand  that  the  men 
who  have  been  schooled  in  the  arts  and  practice  of  peace  shall 
now  do  their  work  equally  well.  Any  Senator  can  step  from 
his  chair  at  the  Capitol  into  the  White  House  and  fulfill  the 
office  of  President  with  more  skill  and  success  than  a  Grant, 
Sherman,  or  Sheridan,  who  were  soldiers  by  education  and 
nature,  who  fulfilled  well  their  office  when  the  country  was  in 
danger,  but  were  not  schooled  in  the  practice  by  which  civil 
communities  are  and  should  be  governed.  I  claim  that  our 
experience  since  1865  demonstrates  the  truth  of  this,  my  prop- 
.osition.  Therefore  I  say  that  patriotism  does  not  demand  of 
me  what  I  construe  as  a  sacrifice  of  judgment,  of  inclination, 
and  of  self-interest. 

"'I  have  my  personal  affairs  in  a  state  of  absolute  safety 
and  comfort.  I  owe  no  man  a  cent,  have  no  expensive 
habits,  enjty  no  man  his  wealth  or  power,  no  complications 
or  indirect  liabilities,  and  would  account  myself  a  fool,  a 
madman,  an  ass,  to  embark  anew,  at  sixty-five  years  of  age, 
in  a  career  that  may  become  at  any  moment  tempest-tossed 
by  perfidy,  the  defalcation,  the  dishonesty  or  neglect  of  any 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  533 

single  one  of  a  hundred  thousand  subordinates  utterly  un- 
known to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  not  to  say  the 
eternal  worriment  by  a  vast  host  of  impecunious  friends  and 
old  military  subordinates.  Even  as  it  is,  I  am  tortured  by 
the  charitable  appeals  of  poor,  distressed  pensioners,  but  as 
President  these  would  be  multiplied  beyond  human  endurance. 

"'I  remember  well   the   experience    of   Generals  Jackson,- 
Harrison,  Taylor,  Grant,  Hayes,  and  Garfield,  all  elected  be- 
cause of  their  military  services,  and  am  warned,  not  encour- 
aged, by  their  sad  experiences. 

"'The  civilians  of  the  United  States  should  and  must  buffet 
with  this  thankless  office,  and  leave  us  old  soldiers  to  enjoy 
the  peace  we  fought  for,  and  think  we  earned. 

"'With  profound  respect,  your  friend, 

"'W.  T.  SHERMAN/ 

"These  letters  prove  absolutely  that  Mr.  Elaine,  though 
qualified,  waived  to  me  personally  a  nomination  which  the 
world  still  believes  he  then  coveted  for  himself. 

"For  copies  of  these  letters  I  believe  I  have  been  impor- 
tuned a  thousand  times,  but  as  a  soldier  I  claim  the  privilege 
of  unmasking  my  batteries  when  I  please. 

"In  looking  over  my  letter-book  of  that  period,  I  find  one 
recorded  and  dated  two  weeks  before  the  Elaine  letter,  which 
is  to  me  more  satisfactory  than  any  other,  and,  therefore,  I 
embrace  it  in  this  article,  which  I  want  to  be  complete  and 
final  on  this  subject-matter,  viz. : 

"'912  GARRISON  AVENUE,  ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  May  16,  1884. 
'"ffon.  C.  M.  BUTT,  Viroqua,  Wis. 

;i'Mv  DEAR  SIR:  I  infer  from  your  letter  of  May  I4th,  just 
received,  that  you  are  one  of  those  soldiers  who  served 
under  me  in  the  Rebellion,  and  that  you  entertain  for  me  that 
most  acceptable  feeling  of  love  and  confidence  which  I  value 


534  LTFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

more  than  gold  and  riches.  I  also  infer  that  you  are  a  dele- 
gate to  the  republican  convention,  to  meet  at  Chicago  early 
in  June,  to  select  out  of  the  great  number  of  eminent  and  ex- 
perienced men  a  candidate  for  President. 

"'I  am  embarrassed  by  the  receipt  of  many  private  letters 
intimating  that  my  name  may  be  presented,  and  that  as  an 
American  officer  and  citizen  I  have  no  right  to  decline.  It 
is  simply  exposing  myself  to  ridicula  to  answer  declining  what 
is  not  offered,  and  probably  never  will  be;  and  as  a  rule, 
such  letters  are  ignored;  but  you  are  a  delegate,  and  in  my 
opinion  have  a  higher  title  in  being  a  member  of  that  army 
which  made  our  Government  permanent  and  most  honored 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  therefore  entitled  to  an  an- 
swer. 

"'At  this  moment  of  time  no  danger  or  necessity  exists 
which  can  make  such  a  personal  sacrifice  necessary  on  my 
part.  My  brother,  Senator  Sherman,  is  fully  advised  of  my 
views,  so  is  my  neighbor,  ex-Senator  Henderson,  who  will  be 
at  Chicago  as  a  delegate  from  Missouri,  and  both  should  re- 
lieve me  of  any  embarrassment,  for  I  will  not  allow  the  use 
of  my  name  as  a  candidate.  I  have  a  thousand  reasons,  any 
one  of  which  to  me  is  good  and  sufficient,  and  I  claim  the  full 
benefit  of  the  freedom  for  which  we  fought,  of  choosing  for 
myself  my  own  course  of  action  in  life.  I  do  not  want  my 
old  comrades  to  think  me  eccentric  or  unreasonable,  but  to 
concede  to  me  the  simple  privilege  of  living  out  my  own  time 
in  peace  and  comfort. 

"'This  letter  is  meant  for  yourself  alone,  and  not  for  the 
public.  "'With  great  respect,  yours,  etc., 

"'W.  T.  SHERMAN.' 

"In  giving  to  the  North  American  Review  at  this  late  date 
these  letters,  which  thus  far  have  remained  hidden  in  my  pri- 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  535 

vate  files,  I  commit  no  breach  of  confidence,  and  to  put  at 
rest  a  matter  of  constant  inquiry  referred  to  in  my  letter  of 
May  28th,  1884,  I  here  record  that  my  immediate  family  are 
strongly  Catholic.  I  am  not  and  cannot  be.  This  is  all  the 
public  has  a  right  to  know;  nor  do  I  wish  to  be  construed  as 
departing  from  a  resolve  made  forty  years  ago  never  to  em- 
bark in  politics.  The  brightest  and  best  youth  of  our  land 
have  been  drawn  into  that  maelstrom,  and  their  wrecked 
fortunes  strew  the  beach  of  the  ocean  of  Time.  My  memory 
even  in  its  short  time  brings  up  names  of  victims  by  the  hun- 
dreds, if  not  thousands. 

"'Still,  American  citizens  should  take  an  interest  in  public 
events,  because  with  them  resides  the  ultimate  power,  the 
"Sovereignty."  We  have  thrown  overboard  the  old  doctrine 
of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  substituted  "The  will  of  the 
people,"  and  the  civilized  world  looks  toward  America  for  a 
solution  of  the  greatest  problem  of  human  existence  and  hap- 
piness— good  government;  this  is  only  possible  by  watching 
jealously  and  closely  the  drift  of  public  events. 

"'Thus  far  as  a  nation  we  have  met  every  phase,  colonial 
and  national,  military  and  civil,  and  in  my  judgment  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  have  in  the  past  fifty  years  accom- 
plished larger  physical  results  than  those  of  Asia  in  a  thousand 
years,  or  of  Europe  in  five  hundred  years.  I  am  equally  con- 
vinced that  our  people  in  every  section  are  more  intelligent, 
more  temperate,  and  enjoy  more  of  the  comforts  of  life  than 
did  our  immediate  ancestors.  So  that  we  are  well  warranted 
in  allowing  the  drift  of  public  events  to  continue  as  now,  as 
little  disturbed  by  artificial  obstructions  as  possible.  'Tis 
true  that  "eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty,"  and  citizens 
should  and  must  watch  the  conduct  of  their  chosen  agents. 
Acts  are  substantial,  words  and  professions  are  only  idle 
wind;  none  but  men  who  have  done  well  should  be  chosen  to 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

office.  The  worst  men  always  promise  most — and  of  all 
things  the  nation  should  not  be  represented  abroad  by  men 
who  labored  to  destroy  the  Government.  Again,  the  incident 
recently  reported  as  having  occurred  at  Richmond,  Va.,  of 
displaying  the  Rebel  flag  in  a  procession  to  which  Union  men 
were  invited,  among  them  the  venerable  Andrew  G.  Curtin, 
of  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  famous  war  Governors,  wrho  to 
my  personal  knowledge  has  gone  to  the  extreme  limit  of  pos- 
sibility to  create  a  perfect  reconciliation,  was  calculated  to 
arouse  feelings  which  it  were  wiser  to  allow  to  die  out.  We 
now  have  a  common  country,  a  common  destiny,  and  but  a 
single  national  flag. 

"I  was  glad  to  receive  from  high  authority  the  assurance 
that  the  affair  had  been  greatly  exaggerated.  Still  it  is  well 
to  emphasise  the  fact  that  the  Rebel  flag  went  down  forever 
at  Appomattox,  and  can  not  be  resurrected  without  protest, 
if  not  actual  bloodshed.  W.  T.  SHERMAN.'" 

In  later  years  he  repeatedly  recalled  what  impressions  had 
been  made  on  his  mind  by  the  bickerings  among  the  politicians, 
when  it  would  have  seemed  that  all  personal  ambition  must 
have  been  stilled  in  the  effort  to  recover  from  the  terrible 
strain  of  the  war,  and  to  secure  to  the  country  its  full  benefit. 
It  was  the  one  characteristic  of  the  General,  which  should  be 
held  for  a  lesson,  now  that  he  has  passed  away.  When  we 
meet  around  the  camp-fires  we  shall  miss  him,  but  there  will 
come  to  all  the  memory  of  General  Sherman's  reason  for 
wishing  that  these  reunions  of  the  old  soldiers  should  be  main- 
tained as  long  as  there  remains  a  single  survivor  of  the  war. 

It  has  become  too  common  to  say  that  the  reunions  of 
the  Grand  Army  have  little  good  purpose  or  result.  This  is 
in  line  \vith  that  spirit  which  finds  no  excuse  for  preserving 
relics  of  the  war,  or  of  otherwise  cherishing  memories  of  days 


LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN.  537 

which  cost  so  much  of  suffering,  as  well  to  the  boys  in  the 
field  as  to  the  dear  ones  at  home.  It  must  be  confessed  that 
some  cause  has  been  given  for  this  feeling.  When  the  in- 
signia of  the  Grand  Army  is  made  to  do  political  work;  when 
the  very  organization  is  sought  for  selfish  ends;  when  it  is 
asked  to  indorse  action  plainly  in  opposition  to  its  principles, 
there  is  some  excuse  for  the  feeling  of  bitterness,  but  there 
remains  another  fact.  The  Grand  Army  was  organized  for 
a  noble  purpose.  It  has  already  wrought  of  good  sufficient 
to  have  earned  the  support  of  honorable  citizens.  And  no 
member  was  ever  better  fitted  to  plead  for  its  maintenance 
than  General  Sherman. 

At  the  encampment  at  Milwaukee,  General  Sherman  was 
present,  and  this  matter  of  growing  hostility  was  a  subject  of 
frequent  conversation.  The  General's  idea  was  that  it  was 
as  much  the  duty  of  members  of  the  Grand  Army  to 
maintain  their  organization  as  it  was  to  obey  commands 
during  the  war.  There  were  many  who  gained  a  new  appre- 
ciation of  the  organization  from  the  earnest  words  of  their 
old  commander.  They  will  be  more  earnest  in  following  the 
advice,  now  that  they  are  words  of  a  dead  comrade. 

During  the  last  few  years  of  his  life  General  Sherman  seems 
to  have  been  more  a  citizen  of  the  whole  country  than  of  any 
locality.  For  a  short  time  a  resident  of  St.  Louis,  then  at 
the  National  capital,  he  finally  settled  in  New  York.  He 
was  the  familiar  object  at  social  and  public  gatherings,  rising 
to  the  position  of  one  of  the  best  after-dinner  speakers  the 
country  has  produced.  No  great  gathering  in  the  metropolis 
was  deemed  complete  without  the  presence  of  General  Sher- 
man. All  classes  united  to  do  him  honor.  But  not  even 
the  bitterest  political  campaign  found  him  mingling  in  the 
turmoil  other  than  as  a  private  citizen  casting  a  simple  ballot. 

One  of  the  General's  delights  was  the  theater,  and  among 


53$  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN 

the  members  of  the  profession  he  numbered  hosts  of  friends. 

It  was  at  the  theater  that  he  made  almost  his  last  appear- 
ance in  public.  On  the  night  of  February  4th,  1891,  there 
was  given  a  special  performance  of  "Poor  Jonathan"  at  the 
Casino.  Invitations  had  been  sent  to  the  military  officers 
in  the  city  and  vicinity,  and  the  General  occupied  one  of  the 
proscenium-boxes.  He  seemed  to  be  in  the  best  of  spirits, 
and  was  the  life  of  the  little  gathering  in  the  box. 

"He  returned  to  his  home  immediately  after  the  perform- 
ance, and,  although  the  weather  was  clear  and  cold,  in  some 
way  the  General  caught  a  severe  cold.  Its  first  effects  were 
noticed  on  the  following  morning.  His  condition,  however, 
did  not  prevent  his  attendance  at  the  wedding  of  Miss  Shepard 
on  that  afternoon.  He  coughed  a  little  and  complained  of 
the  cold  while  in  the  church.  On  Friday  morning  his  condi- 
tion had  become  more  uncomfortable,  but  excited  no  alarm. 
His  throat,  however,  had  become  affected  in  the  meantime, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  a  dinner  with  Lawrence  Bar- 
rett that  evening  at  the  Union  League  Club.  On  Saturday 
morning,  when  he  began  to  show  signs  of  facial  erysipelas, 
accompanied  by  fever,  he  felt  some  anxiety,  and  sent  for  Dr. 
Alexander,  who  had  been  his  family  physician  for  a  number 
of  years.  On  Sunday  the  disease  began  to  get  a  firm  hold 
upon  the  old  warrior.  His  face  and  neck  became  much 
swollen  and  inflamed,  and  conversation  became  difficult  and 
painful.  His  condition  was  such  that  Dr.  Alexander  sent 
for  Dr.  Janeway,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  consultation. 
The  General  was  then  confined  to  his  bed,  and  it  was  found 
that  the  ordinary  treatment  applied  in  cases  of  erysipelas 
would  not  answer  the  purpose,  in  part  owing  to  the  General's 
advanced  age. 

"The  disease  had  developed  to  such  an  extent  on  Monday 
that  it  was  decided  to  summon  the  members  of  the  family. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  539 

Telegrams  were  sent  at  once  to  Senator  John  Sherman,  his 
brother;  his  daughters,  Mrs.  Thackara  and  Mrs.  Fitch.  The 
other  children,  with  the  exception  of  the  Rev.  T.  E.  Sher- 
man, were  at  home.  To  him,  however,  a  cable  dispatch  was 
sent.  He  is  a  student  in  the  Jesuit  Seminary  on  the  Island 
of  Jersey.  Senator  Sherman  arrived  at  his  brother's  home 
on  Monday  night,  and  his  daughters  on  the  following  day. 
The  arrival  of  Senator  Sherman,  with  the  publication  of  the 
dispatch  which  called  him,  was  the  first  intimation  that  the 
people  of  this  city  had  of  General  Sherman's  illness. 

"Dr.  Alexander  remained  at  the  sick  man's  bedside  on 
Tuesday  night,  and  when  Dr.  Janeway  came  to  relieve  him  on 
Wednesday  morning,  he  found  the  General  resting  on  his 
back  in  a  state  of  semi-stupor.  His  condition  at  that  time 
was  recognized  as  critical.  He  was  in  great  pain  when  he 
moved,  and  gave  evidence  of  growing  weaker,  despite  the 
fact  that  whisky  and  milk,  which  were  used  as  nourishment 
throughout  the  illness,  were  administered  to  him  as  often  as 
possible.  Intimate  friends  of  the  family  were  then  informed 
of  his  precarious  condition. 

"The  General  rallied  somewhat  at  noon,  and  his  family 
began  to  hope  that  the  illness  was  only  temporary.  But 
their  hopes  were  delusive.  In  the  afternoon  the  attending 
physicians,  Drs.  Alexander,  Janeway  and  Green,  began  to 
send  out  hourly  bulletins  as  an  official  answer  to  the  hun- 
dreds of  inquiries  that  poured  in  upon  them.  At  2:15  they 
made  their  first  announcement,  which  read  as  follows:  'Gen- 
eral Sherman  was  worse  this  morning,  and  his  condition  is 
critical.  During  the  day  his  condition  has  improved  consid- 
erably. ' 

"From  that  time  ;on  until  the  end,  there  was  a  constant 
wavering  between  despair  and  hope,  a  succession  of  rallies 
and  depressions.  At  times  the  General's  strong  constitution 


54O  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

and  wonderful  vitality  would  give  proofs  of  their  former 
power  and  engender  the  belief  in  the  breasts  of  the  watchers 
that  he  would  recover.  But  these  proofs  were  not  lasting. 
Friends  who  came  from  the  sick-room  on  Wednesday  and 
on  the  following  days  were  quickly  surrounded  by  people 
anxious  to  hear  the  latest  news  of  the  patient's  condition. 
He  was  still  able  to  speak  on  Wednesday,  and  addressed  a 
number  of  friends  who  approached  his  bedside,  among  them 
General  Thomas  Ewing.  He  did  not  attempt  to  converse 
with  him,  however,  as  his  tongue  had  become  swollen,  and 
the  lungs  had  filled. 

"He  improved  again  slightly  during  the  evening  so  that 
two  of  the  physicians  and  Senator  Sherman  left  the  house. 
The  Senator,  however,  was  summoned  again  at  2  o'clock  on 
Thursday,  when  the  veteran  again  grew  worse.  Thursday 
passed  in  much  the  same  way  as  Wednesday,  although  it  was 
found  advisable  to  have  the  last  rites  of  the  Catholic  Church 
administered  just  before  noon.  In  the  afternoon  the  sick 
man  surprised  his  watchers  by  getting  out  of  bed  and  walk- 
ing  a  few  steps  to  an  easy-chair,  where  he  sat  for  a  few  min- 
utes. He  showed  the  same  marvelous  will-power  again  in 
the  evening.  In  his  rallies  he  was  able  to  clear  his  lungs  a 
little.  Whisky  and  milk  were  given  to  him  as  often  as  he 
could  take  nourishment.  Late  at  night  it  was  said  that  if  the 
General  could  maintain  his  state  at  that  time,  there  would  be 
hopes  of  his  ultimate  recovery. 

"Friday  was  another  day  of  hope  and  disappointment. 
Several  times  it  was  reported  that  the  General  was  dying, 
but  he  managed  to  rally,  despite  his  weakened  condition. 
He  grew  weak  again  at  midnight,  and  at  an  early  hour  yes- 
terday morning  it  was  known  that  his  death  was  only  a  ques- 
tion of  a  few  hours.  At  4  o'clock  his  family  was  all  sum- 
moned to  the  room,  and  never  left  it,  except  for  five  minutes, 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  541 

until  the  end.  The  alarming  attack  which  seized  the  patient 
soon  after  6  o'clock  precipitated  death.  The  doctors  hur- 
riedly held  another  consultation,  did  what  they  could  to 
relieve  the  General,  and  then  decided  that  hope  must  be  aban- 
doned. 

"The  chloroform  plasters  which  had  been  placed  on  Gen- 
eral Sherman's  chest  failed  to  help  him.  The  police-officers 
then  cleared  the  sidewalk  and  streets  of  all  passengers,  and 
people  began  to  wait  for  the  end.  At  8:35  o'clock  Dr.  Jane- 
way  left  the  house,  to  which  he  did  not  again  return.  His 
face  and  his  few  words  told  plainly  that  he  had  no  hope.  At 
ii  o'clock  Mr.  Barrett  came  to  the  telegraph  station  and 
sadly  made  public  the  last  bulletin  before  the  announcement 
of  the  General's  death.  The  man  was  almost  overcome  with 
grief.  The  bulletin  simply  said  that  the  doctors  had  given  up 
hope. 

"Mr.  Barrett  returned  to  the  house,  and  an  hour  and  a  half 
afterward  his  chief  breathed  his  last. 

"With  one  long  sigh  General  William  Tecumseh  Sherman 
died.  Death  came  at  1:50  P.  M.,  Saturday,  February  I3th, 
1891.  Its  coming  was  gentle,  quiet,  painless.  Not  a  muscle 
moved.  Life  seemed  to  steal  reluctantly  away,  it  went  so 
softly,  leaving  no  sign  of  a  struggle. 

"For  two  hours  the  great  soldier  of  the  Nation  had  been 
unconscious.  His  eyes  were  closed,  and  he  lay  on  his  back 
suffering  nothing.  His  family  knelt  around  him,  their  loving 
glances  fastened  upon  the  still  face.  Heavy  tapestries  dimmed 
the  light  that  came  through  an  open  window,  and  the  wood 
fire  shed  a  red  glow  over  the  room.  At  i  :2O  o'clock  it  was 
seen  that  the  hand  of  death  was  laid  upon  the  stricken  war- 
rior. The  tips  of  his  fingers  grew  cold.  He  gasped.  His 
head,  lying  on  a  soft  pillow,  was  tenderly  lowered.  He 
gasped  again,  and  again  the  pillow  was  pressed  down  to  give 


542  LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

him  relief.  Finally  it  was  removed,  and  the  head  rested 
upon  the  sheet,  level  with  the  shoulders.  The  ringers  grew 
colder.  The  hand  stiffened.  The  cold  crept  up  the  arm 
till  it,  too,  was  chilled.  Then  it  crept  on  to  the  body,  dead- 
ening every  sense.  It  reached  the  heart  and  then — the  end. 

"It  was  the  death  for  a  conqueror  to  die.  The  face  settled 
into  a  calm  repose.  Under  each  eye  there  was  a  slight  swell- 
ing, and  the  right  cheek  was  larger  than  the  left.  Both  eyes 
were  closed.  The  right  arm  was  straight  beside  the  body, 
the  left  was  crossed  upon  the  breast.  It  seems  as  if  in  going 
before  the  Great  Commander  of  all  the  armies  the  hero  of 
the  civil  war  were  giving  the  sergeant's  salute: 

"'All  present  and  accounted  for;   Grant — Sheridan — Sher- 


man! 

"Death  came  from  suffocation.  The  lungs  filled  with 
mucus,  the  tongue  swelled  till  it  stopped  the  passage  of  the 
throat,  the  jaws  became  rigid.  Frequent  relapses  had  sapped 
the  soldier's  strength.  His  ammunition  was  all  gone.  He 
was  helpless.  He  could  not  fight.  For  the  first  and  last 
time  he  surrendered  unconditionally. 

"Kneeling  beside  the  bed  as  the  great  heart  ceased  its  beat- 
ing were  the  General's  son,  P.  T.  Sherman,  his  four  daugh- 
ters, the  Misses  Rachel  and  Lizzie  Sherman,  Mrs.  Fitch 
and  Mrs.  Thackara;  his  brother,  Senator  John  Sherman; 
his  sons-in-law,  Lieutenants  Fitch  and  Thackara;  his  brother- 
in-law,  General  Thomas  Ewing;  his  physician,  Dr. -Alexan- 
der, U.  S.  A.,  and  his  nurse,  Miss  Elizabeth  Price,  of  the 
New  York  Hospital. 

"These  had  been  summoned  at  5 130  A.  M.,  when  it  was 
believed  that  death  was  near,  and  had  remained  constantly 
beside  the  bed  till  all  was  over.  In  the  morning  the  General 
made  no  effort  to  speak.  His  lips  were  sealed.  When 
spoken  to  he  responded  only  with  a  glance  of  the  eye  that 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  543 

betokened  a  clear  perception  of  all  that  was  going  on.  Con- 
sciousness never  deserted  him  till  noon.  For  two  days  ho 
had  not  suffered.  Dr.  Green,  who  had  been  called  in  on 
Wednesday,  was  with  the  General  at  5:30  o'clock,  having 
been  sent  for  hastily,  but  he  soon  returned  to  his  home  to 
snatch  an  hour  of  much-needed  rest.  When  he  was  awak- 
ened at  2  o'clock  it  was  to  be  informed  that  the  end  had 
come.  Dr.  Janeway,  the  consulting  physician,  left  the  house 
at  9  o'clock,  having  given  up  all  hope,  and  did  not  return  till 
evening.  Dr.  Alexander,  the  ranking  surgeon  of  the  army  in 
this  city,  never  left  the  sick-room  after  5  o'clock. 

"No  priest  was  called  in.  There  were  no  religious  rites  of 
any  kind  in  the  death-chamber.  The  sacrament  of  extreme 
unction  having  been  administered  on  Thursday,  the  services 
of  a  clergyman  were  not  again  required." 

When  the  news  flashed  along  the  wires  that  General  Sher- 
man was  dead/  there  was  returned  from  all  quarters  messages 
of  condolence  and  affection.  It  would  be  a  work  of  pleas- 
ure to  collect  in  a  memorial  volume  all  the  kindly  words  said 
of  the  loved  commander  when  he  had  passed  away,  by  friends 
who  had  learned  to  love  him.  In  such  a  record  every  soldier 
of  Sherman's  army  would  see  reflected  what  had  made  him 
the  idol  of  his  troops.  But  that  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this 
work. 

While  the  body  did  not  lie  in  state,  there  were  thousands 
who  took  the  last  look  at  the  face  of  the  dead  hero.  Speak- 
ing of  the  scenes  the  New  York  Times  report  says: 

"The  gloom  that  prevails  about  the  neighborhood  of  Gen- 
eral Sherman's  late  residence  is  a  most  eloquent  tribute  of 
the  love  those  people  bore  him  who  saw  him  every  day. 
Most  of  these,  his  neighbors,  knew  him  only  by  sight.  Others 
merely  had  passed  the  time  of  day  with  him.  A  few  were 
fortunate  in  knowing  him  well.  Yet  all  seemed  to  take  his 


544  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

death  as  a  personal  grief.  There  is  hardly  a  house  along 
Seventy-first  street,  from  Central  Park  to  the  Hudson  River, 
that  does  not  display  from  over  its  door,  or  from  a  window, 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  draped  in  black.  The  same  is  true  of 
Ninth  Avenue  about  Seventy-first  street.  Sherman's  death 
seems  to  have  thrown  a  pall  over  the  entire  locality.  Even 
the  children  have  become  imbued  with  the  funereal  atmos- 
phere, and  instead  of  romping  and  playing,  they  walk  sedately 
up  and  down  before  the  house  of  mourning. 

"General  Sherman's  body  was  finally  prepared  for  burial 
yesterday  morning.  The  undertaker  was  busy  until  9  o'clock. 
His  work  completed,  the  old  soldier's  body,  dressed  in  the 
full  uniform  of  his  rank,  was  placed  in  its  casket  of  metal 
and  oak,  lined  with  cream  satin,  and  covered  with  black  broad- 
cloth. It  is  precisely  similar  to  the  one  in  which  Mrs.  Sher- 
man was  buried.  The  casket  was  brought  down  to  the  draw- 
ing-room on  the  first  floor,  and  there  placed  on  a  black  cata- 
falque to  remain  until  the  family  service  is  conducted  by 
Father  Taylor  of  the  Church  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 
Then  it  will  be  handed  over  to  the  military  authorities. 

"At  10  o'clock  the  house  was  thrown  open,  and  until  4 
o'clock  the  body  was  lying  in  state.  Between  the  .same 
hours  to-day  the  public  will  be  admitted,  unless  the  crowd 
becomes  too  great.  That  there  was  no  overcrowd  yesterday 
is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  it  had  been  everywhere 
announced  that  the  public  would  not  be  admitted;  that  in 
fact  none  but  the  family  and  intimate  friends  would  look  upon 
Sherman's  face  again.  So  many  of  his  old  comrades  in 
arms,  however,  expressed  disappointment  at  this  that  the 
family  decided  to  allow  as  many  as  came  and  could  be  ac- 
commodated to  enter. 

"This  decision  was  spread  abroad  as  if  by  magic,  with  the 
result  that  there  was  a  steady  stream  of  men,  women  and 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL    SHERMAN.  545 

children  passing  in  and  out  of  the  house  throughout  the  day. 
There  was  not  the  slightest  confusion  or  crowding,  however. 
Several  of  the  biggest  policemen  in  the  Broadway  squad  were 
detailed  to  duty  outside  the  house,  and  soldiers  from  Gov- 
ernor Island  were  stationed  inside  to  keep  the  people  mov- 
ing in  the  right  direction. 

"The  visitors  pass  into  the  front  door,  enter  the  parlor  to 
the  right,  pass  into  the  drawing-room,  around  the  bier,  and 
out  into  the  hall  again  through  the  dining-room.  In  the 
front  parlor  they  notice  hanging  on  the  wall,  with  a  mirror 
between  them,  two  large  oil  paintings,  one  of  the  great  com- 
mander, by  Healy  of  Rome,  and  another  of  his  wife.  A  flag 
is  draped  over  the  General's  portrait.  Two  other  flags  are 
draped  beneath  it.  One  is  the  flag  that  waved  over  the  Gen- 
eral's headquarters  through  all  his  campaigns.  The  other  is 
a  beautiful  silk  emblem  made  for  him  years  ago  by  ladies. 

"Passing  into  the  drawing-room  the  visitors  find  it  dimly 
lighted  by  the  flickering  light  of  six  candles  in  a  great  bronze 
candelabrum  standing  in  a  corner.  At  its  base  rests  a  superb 
pillow  of  double  English  violets.  On  a  card  attached  to  this 
tribute  is  written:  'With  loving  regards,  Mrs.  Admiral  Por- 
ter.'  That  the  widow  of  America's  last  admiral  should 
have,  on  the  very  day  when  she  was  following  his  body  to 
its  grave,  paused  for  a  moment  in  her  grief  to  send  this 
token  of  sympathy  to  the  bereaved  family  of  America's  last 
General,  was  a  thought  of  sweet  consolation  to  the  latter. 

"But  this  was  not  the  only  floral  tribute.  The  atmosphere 
of  the  room  is  fairly  heavy  with  the  perfume  that  comes  from 
a  bank  of  flowers  that  almost  conceals  a  great  mahogany 
sideboard  on  the  east  side  of  the  room.  There  is  a  splendid 
bunch  of  palms  'from  the  grandchildren  of  Zachary  Taylor, '  a 
wreath  of  ivy  and  white  lilacs  from  Mme.  Macchetta  d'Allegri 
and  Blanche  Roosevelt,  of  Paris;  a  pillow  of  roses  and  calla 
35 


546  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

lilies  from  the  Ohio  Commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  and 
numerous  other  pieces.  General  Sherman's  escutcheon 
hangs  on  the  wall. 

"Just  at  the  foot  of  the  bier,  on  a  pedestal  of  black  marble, 
around  which  is  a  wreath  of  ivy,  is  a  marble  bust  of  the  Gen- 
eral. It  is  so  placed  that  the  eyes,  which  are  cast  downward 
—the  face  bearing  that  semi-serious  expression  so  familiar  to 
those  who  knew  the  General — seem  to  be  gazing  upon  the 
dead  face  of  its  original.  The  bit  of  marble  was  one  of  the 
General's  household  treasures,  upon  which  his  kindly  eyes 
often  looked  with  pride.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
strange  thoughts  passed  through  the  minds  of  the  mourners 
yesterday,  as  there,  in  the  dim  light  that  surrounded  his  bier, 
they  saw  the  Sherman  of  marble  seemingly  gazing  down  with 
placid  features  upon  the  Sherman  of  clay,  as  inanimate  and 
far  less  enduring  than  itself. 

"Approaching  the  casket  the  visitors  saw,  folded  upon  it 
an  American  flag,  upon  which  rested  the  General's  hat,  his 
spurs,  and  the  gold-hilted  sword  and  scabbard  presented  to 
him  at  the  close  of  the  war  by  the  State  of  New  York.  Just 
where  the  sword  and  scabbard  are  crossed  glistens  a  silver 
plate,  upon  which  is  engraved: 

WILLIAM  TECUMSEH  SHERMAN, 

General,  U.  S.  A. 

Born  February  8,  1820. 

Died  Feb.  14,  1891. 

"Looking  down  through  the  glass  cover  of  the  casket,  the 
visiting  friend  sees  the  General  Sherman  he  knew  in  life,  and 
not  a  body  disfigured  by  sickness,  as  report  has  had  it. 
The  right  hand  rests  on  the  sash  of  the  Legion  of  Honor, 
which  the  General  wears  with  his  full  military  uniform.  The 
face  is  calm  and  natural.  Those  who  knew  the  General  in 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  547 

life  will  recall  the  severe  lines  that  marked  his  forehead. 
These  lines  are  as  strongly  marked  in  death  as  they  were  in 
life,  and  the  result  is  that  the  face  wears  an  expression  that 
is  extremely  natural.  During  his  sickness  the  General's 
neck  and  the  lower  portion  of  his  face  were  badly  discolored 
by  applications  of  iodine.  This  has  all  been  concealed.  In 
fact,  the  only  thing  in  the  General's  appearance  that  is  strange 
to  those  who  knew  him  (excepting,  of  course,  that  appear- 
ance of  death  which  stamps  all  upon  whom  the  dreaded  mes- 
senger calls),  is  a  beard  that  is  considerably  longer  than  the 
stubby  growth  the  General  wore." 

It  will  be  allowed  to  trespass  once  more  upon  the  work  of 
the  memorialist  to  record  the  glowing  words  with  which  Carl 
Schurz  seconded  the  motion  for  the  adoption  of  resolutions 
of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce.  The  resolutions, 
which  were  introduced  by  J.  Edward  Simmons,  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  Whereas,  The  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
but  a  short  time  since  were  called  to  assemble  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  severe  national  bereavement  to  pay  their  tribute  of 
respect  to  the  character  and  noble  labors  of  a  distinguished 
civilian  and  statesman,  having  under  his  care  the  fiduciary 
interests  of  the  Republic;  and 

"  Whereas,  To-day,  by  the  dispensation  of  an  all-wise  Prov- 
idence, we  meet  to  pay  our  tribute  of  affectionate  regard  to 
the  memory  of  a  great  soldier,  whose  splendid  services  in 
the  long  struggle  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  were  as 
brilliant  as  they  were  successful,  and  whose  achievements 
illustrated  the  greatness  of  a  soldier  who  in  conquest  knew 
no  hate,  and  in  whose  magnanimity  there  was  no  revenge; 
therefore, 

"Resolved,  that  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of 
New  York  hereby  places  on  record  its  unanimous  sentiment 


54-8  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

of  profound  sorrow  because  of  the  irreparable  loss  the  nation 
has  sustained  in  the  death  of  our  distinguished  soldier  citizen, 
General  William  Tecumseh  Sherman. 

"Resolved,  That  by  the  death  of  General  Sherman  the  world 
has  lost  one  of  its  greatest  military  heroes.  Pure  in  heart, 
of  spotless  integrity,  cool  and  undismayed  in  danger,  he  not 
only  won  honor  and  renown  from  the  soldiers  of  his  com- 
mand, but  he  invariably  inspired  them  with  friendship,  affec- 
tion, and  confidence.  He  was  the  coldier  of  justice,  right, 
and  truth,  and  he  has  passed  from  our  midst  as  a  brilliant 
star  pales  and  vanishes  from  the  morning  sky. 

"Resolved,  That  the  results  achieved  by  the  late  war  were 
largely  due  to  the  consummate  skill,  adroit  strategy,  and 
matchless  generalship  of  William  Tecumseh  Sherman,  and 
that  the  people  of  this  Republic  are  indebted  to  him  for  his 
eminent  services  in  securing  to  them  the  inestimable  blessings 
of  a  united  and  prosperous  country. 

"Resolved,  That  as  a  public-spirited  citizen  he  proved  him- 
self to  be  a  capable  man  of  affairs,  with  a  deep  interest  in 
many  of  our  local  institutions.  As  an  honorary  member  he 
has  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  this  Chamber,  and  his 
genial  presence  was  seldom  missed  at  our  annual  banquets. 
Socially  he  was  the  peer  of  those  with  whom  companionship 
had  a  charm,  and  illustrated  in  his  intercourse  all  the  quali- 
ties of  a  nobleman  in  the  amenities  of  life.  His  home  was  a 
haven  of  repose,  and  love  and  gentleness  were  the  angels 
that  ministered  at  his  fireside. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  hereby  tenders 
to  the  family  of  General  Sherman  the  expression  of  sincere 
sympathy  in  the  hour  of  their  bereavement." 

In  seconding  these  resolutions,  Carl  Schurzsaid: 

"The  adoption  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  these  res- 
olutions, which  I  have  the  honor  to  second,  is  no  mere  per- 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  549 

functory  proceeding.  We  have  been  called  here  by  a  genuine1 
impulse  of  the  heart.  To  us  General  Sherman  was  not  a 
great  man  like  other  great  men,  honored  and  revered  at  a 
distance.  We  had  the  proud  and  happy  privilege  of  calling 
him  one  of  us.  Only  a  few  months  ago,  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  this  Chamber,  we  saw  the  familiar  face  of  our  honorary 
member  on  this  platform  by  the  side  of  our  President.  Only 
a  few  weeks  ago  he  sat  at  our  banquet  table,  as  he  had  often 
before,  in  the  happiest  mood  of  conviviality,  and  contributed 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  night  with  his  always  unassuming 
and  always  charming  speech. 

"And  as  he  moved  among  us  without  the  slightest  pomp  of 
self-conscious  historic  dignity,  only  with  the  warm  and  sim- 
ple geniality  of  his  nature,  it  would  cost  us  sometimes  an 
effort  of  the  memory  to  recollect  that  he  was  the  famous  cap- 
tain who  had  marshaled  mighty  armies  victoriously  on  many 
a  battle-field,  and  whose  name  stood,  and  will  forever  stand, 
in  the  very  foremost  rank  of  the  saviors  of  this  Republic, 
and  of  the  great  soldiers  of  the  world's  history.  Indeed,  no 
American  could  have  forgotten  this  for  a  moment;  but  the 
affection  of  those  who  were  so  happy  as  to  come  near  to  him 
would  sometimes  struggle  to  outrun  their  veneration  arid 
gratitude. 

"Death  has  at  last  conquered  the  hero  of  so  many  cam- 
paigns; our  cities  and  towns  and  villages  are  decked  with 
flags  at  half-mast;  the  muffled  drum  and  the  funeral  boom 
of  cannon  will  resound  over  the  land  as  his  dead  body  passes 
to  the  final  resting-place,  and  the  American  people  stand 
mournfully  gazing  into  the  void  left  by  the  sudden  disappear- 
ance of  the  last  of  the  greatest  men  brought  forth  by  our  war 
of  regeneration — and  this  last  also  finally  become,  save  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  alone,  the  most  widely  beloved. 

"He  is  gone;   but  as  we  of  the  present  generation   remem- 


55O  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

her  it,  history  will  tell  all  coming  centuries  the  romantic  story 
of  the  great  'March  to  the  Sea' — how,  in  the  dark  days  of 
1 864,  Sherman,  having  worked  his  bloody  way  to  Atlanta,  then 
cast  off  all  his  lines  of  supply  and  communication,  and,  like  a 
bold  diver  into  the  dark  unknown,  seemed  to  vanish,  with 
all  his  hosts,  from  the  eyes  of  the  world,  until  his  triumphant 
reappearance  on  the  shores  of  the  ocean  proclaimed  to  the 
anxiously  expecting  millions,  that  now  the  final  victory  was 
no  longer  doubtful,  and  that  the  Republic  would  surely  be 
saved. 

"Nor  will  history  fail  to  record  that  this  great  General  was, 
as  a  victorious  soldier,  a  model  of  republican  citizenship. 
When  he  had  done  his  illustrious  deeds  he  rose  step  by  step 
to  the  highest  rank  in  the  army,  and  then,  grown  old,  he  re- 
tired. The  Republic  made  provision  for  him  in  modest  re- 
publican style.  He  was  satisfied.  He  asked  for  no  higher 
reward.  Although  the  splendor  of  his  achievements  and 
the  personal  affection  for  him,  which  every  one  of  his  sol- 
diers carried  home,  made  him  the  most  popular  American  of 
his  day,  and  although  the  most  glittering  prizes  were  not  sel- 
dom held  up  before  his  eyes,  he  remained  untroubled  by  ul- 
terior ambition.  No  thought  that  the  Republic  owed  him 
more  ever  darkened  his  mind.  No  man  could  have  spoken 
to  him  of  the  'ingratitude  of  republics'  without  meeting  from 
him  a  stern  rebuke.  And  so,  content  with  a  consciousness 
of  a  great  duty,  nobly  done,  he  was  happy  in  the  love  of  his 
fellow-citizens. 

"Indeed,  he  may  truly  be  said  to  have  been  in  his  old  age, 
not  only  the  most  beloved,  but  the  happiest  of  Americans . 
Many  years  he  lived  in  the  midst  of  posterity.  His  task  was 
finished,  and  this  he  wisely  understood.  His  deeds  had  been 
passed  upon  by  the  judgment  of  history,  and  irrevocably  reg- 
istered among  the  glories  of  his  country  and  his  age.  His 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  55 1 

generous  heart  envied  no  one,  and  wished  every  one  well; 
and  ill-will  had  long  ceased  to  pursue  him.  Beyond  cavil  his 
fame  was  secure,  and  he  enjoyed  it  as  that  which  he  had 
honestly  earned,  with  a  genuine  and  ever-fresh  delight,  openly 
avowed  by  the  charming  frankness  of  his  nature. 

"He  dearly  loved  to  be  esteemed  and  cherished  by  his 
fellow-men,  and  what  he  valued  most,  his  waning  years 
brought  him  in  ever-increasing  abundance.  Thus  he  was  in 
truth  a  most  happy  man,  and  his  days  went  down  like  an 
evening  sun  in  a  cloudless  autumn  sky.  And  when  now  the 
American  people,  with  that  tenderness  of  affection  which 
they  have  long  borne  him,  lay  him  in  his  grave,  the  happy 
ending  of  his  great  ife  may,  in  their  hearts,  soothe  the  pang 
of  bereavement  they  feel  at  the  loss  of  the  old  hero  who  was 
so  dear  to  them,  and  of  whom  they  were  and  always  will  be 
so  proud.  His  memory  will  ever  be  bright  to  us  all,  his  truest 
monument  will  be  the  greatness  of  this  Republic  he  served 
so  well,  and  his  fame  will  never  cease  to  be  prized  by  a  grate- 
ful country  as  one  of  its  most  precious  possessions." 

It  had  been  the  expressed  wish  of  General  Sherman  that 
his  funeral  should  be  as  unostentatious  as  possible.  He  de- 
sired no  more  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  death  than  of 
life.  But  it  was  impossible  to  limit  or  restrict  the  desire  of 
the  people  to  pay  their  last  respects  to  the  dead.  The  same 
cause  which  led  to  the  opening  of  the  private  house  that  friends 
numbered  by  thousands  might  have  opportunity  of  looking 
once  more  upon  the  face  of  their  hero,  caused  a  lengthened 
procession  to  follow  the  remains  on  the  day  of  the  funeral. 
The  New  York  World  of  Friday,  February  2Oth,  gives  a 
graphic  account  of  the  scenes  at  the  funeral: 

"One  of  General  Shermans  last  wishes  was  that  there 
should  be  as  little  pomp  and  ceremony  as  possible  when  he 
was  carried  to  his  grave.  He  would  be  laid  away  in  a  man- 


552  LIFE  OF  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 

ner  as  modest,  simple,  and  quiet  as  his  own  life  haol  always 
been.  But  he  was,  perhaps,  the  best-beloved  citizen  in  New 
York's  confines.  And  that  is  why  it  was  that  yesterday  after- 
noon a  line  of  soldiers,  stretched  from  the  street  where  he  had 
last  lived  and  died  down  to  Washington  Square,  had  gathered 
to  do  him  honor.  And  because  he  was  so  beloved — the  grim, 
kind  old  brave,  with  his  big,  honest  heart — that  is  why  every 
inch  of  vantage  ground  from  Seventy-first  street  to  Desbros- 
ses  street  was  filled  up  all  along  the  line,  till  the  thorough, 
fares  were  choked  by  the  populace,  who  wished  to  lift  their 
hats  in  saying  to  him:  'Vale;  let  him  go  forth.' 

"Simple  as  could  be  was  the  ceremonial,  but  marvelously 
impressive  for  all  that.  The  day  was  as  sunny  as  the  great 
heart  had  been,  which  is  now  stilled.  The  air  was  clear 
and  sweet  and  crisp.  That  was  the  background  of  the  pict- 
ure. But  underneath  this  brightness  there  was  the  sound  of 
mufrled  drums,  the  gleam  of  arms  reversed,  the  tolling  of 
bells  from  steeples,  and  the  sound  of  mournful  guns;  hushed 
voices  and  tears  glistening  in  the  eyes  of  men.  And  ever 
through  it  all  there  echoed  the  deep,  slow  notes  of  the  Dead 
March,  'the  last  song,  when  the  dead  man  is  praised  on  his 
journey.' 

"The  hero's  last  march  was  almost  the  itinerary  that  in 
life  he  used  to  traverse  with  so  much  pleasure.  Down  Fifth 
avenue  they  bore  him,  where  he  had  paced  so  often.  Down 
by  the  great  hotel,  with  its  facade  of  marble,  where  he  walked 
the  length  of  its  long  corridor  so  many  afternoons  with  head 
bent  and  hands  folded  behind  his  back;  down  by  the  neighbor- 
hood where  the  theaters  are,  in  which  his  face  has  been  an  old 
familiar  one  for  the  past  ten  years;  down  by  Houston  street 
and  Broadway,  where  the  cars  always  stopped  respecfully  to 
let  the  General  off  to  visit  the  old  Army  and  Navy  Head- 
quarters before  they  moved  to  Whitehall  street. 


LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN.  553 

"Cold  were  the  hands  and  quiet  the  lips  that  used  to  have 
a  pleasant  word  and  a  hearty  greeting  for  all  who  saluted  the 
hero  as  he  walked  abroad.  He  of  Shiloh,  he  of  Atlanta,  he 
of  the  March  to  the  Sea  was  dead.  And  like  a  requiem,  the 
deep,  slow  music  seemed  to  chant  about  his  bier  as  Saul  sang 
unto  David: 

Bear,  bear  him  along! 

With  his  few  faults  shut  up  like  dead  flowerets. 

Are  balm  seeds  not  here 

To  console  us?     The  land  has  none  left  such  as  he  on  the  bier. 

Oh,  would  we  might  keep  thee,  our  brother! 

"It  is  no  straining  expression  to  say  that  New  York 
yesterday  was  a  .house  of  mourning.  Business  throughout 
the  city  was  practically  suspended.  All  the  Federal, 
State  and  civil  institutions  were  closed.  Flags  were  flying 
at  half-mast  from  the  battery  up  to  the  north  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  and  not  only  along  the  route  of  the  proces- 
sion, but  in  quiet,  out-of-the-way  parts  of  the  town,  there 
were  flags  hung  out  from  windows  in  every  street.  The 
city,  like  she  of  Rama,  was  weeping  for  her  great  soldier 
because  he  was  not. 

"Not  only  the  rich  and  poor  alike  in  New  York  gathered  to 
salute  the  body  of  the  General  as  he  went  away  for  the  last 
time,  but  there  were  thousands  of  people  who  had  come  from 
all  parts  of  the  State  and  from  New  Jersey  to  honor  him  as 
he  lay  dead.  Even  as  far  as  the  East  is  from  the  West  men 
whose  names  are  household  words  had  traveled  across  the 
country  to  bid  the  hero  God-speed  on  his  journey.  The 
South  joined  hands  with  the  North,  and  carriages  full  of 
veteran  Confederates  rode  in  the  procession.  The  Lloyd- 
Garrison  Post,  No.  207,  sent  100  veterans  to  represent  the 
respect  which  the  colored  race  felt  for  the  General  who  had 
fought  so  bitterly  in  their  cause.  North  and  South,  East 


554  LIFE   OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

and  West,  from  the  four  corners  of  the  country,  they  came 
to  be  in  at  the  'lights  out.' 

"At  high  noon  the  city  was  all  astir.  As  early  as  10 
o'clock  the  streets  were  dotted  everywhere  with  soldiers  in 
their  uniforms.  The  cars  one  and  all  had  on  board  from  two 
to  a  half-dozen  police  officers  on  their  way  to  take  their  sta- 
tion at  the  posts  assigned.  In  every  car  on  the  "L"road  you 
ran  across  a  member  of  the  militia,  a  veteran,  weather-beat- 
en and  gray  as  moss,  a  young  aspirant  of  the  Seventh  or 
Sixty-ninth,  or  again  a  drummer-boy,  all  bound  for  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Seventy-first  street.  And  on  all  men's  lips,  both 
young  and  old,  there  was  but  the  one  name — 'Sherman.' 

"Not  since  the  other — he  of  the  few  words  and  the  grim  de- 
termination— died  has  there  been  a  demonstration  so  impress- 
ive, so  solemn,  so  suggestive  as  the  funeral  procession  yester- 
day. At  the  funeral  of  General  Grant  there  was  more  to  appeal 
to  the  eye;  there  was  more  to  see.  But  yesterday  there  was 
only  a  plain,  simple  coffin,  draped  from  head  to  foot  in  the  Na- 
tion's colors,  borne  on  a  caisson,  and  a  long  line  of  soldiery, 
with  arms  reversed,  following  the  simple  bier.  But  the  cor- 
tege and  its  surroundings  were  so  in  keeping  with  the  per- 
sonality and  character  of  Sherman  that  there  could  be  no  on- 
looker who  was  not  affected.  It  was  simple,  quiet,  contained. 
So  was  the  General.  It  was  impressive,  grand,  majestic. 
So  was  Sherman. 

"From  Seventy-first  street,  where  the  body  of  the  General 
was  placed  upon  the  caisson  which  has  carried  so  many  good 
braves  before  him,  the  streets  along  the  route  of  the  proces- 
sion were  lined  with  people.  The  largest  crowd  at  first  was 
naturally  about  Seventy-first  street  and  Eighth  Avenue,  where 
the  cortege  formed.  But  gradually  as  the  hour  came  due  for  the 
line  to  pass  a  given  point  the  sidewalks  about  that  point  grew 
blacker  and  blacker  with  the  people  who  were  gathering. 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN.  555 

Those  who  waited  to  see  the  line    from    its    beginning   to  its 
end  waited  two  hours  and  twenty  minutes. 

"The  crowd  was  everywhere  respectful,  patient,  orderly 
As  Grover  Cleveland  rode  by  with  Chauncey  Depew  there 
was  an  occasional  attempt  at  salutation,  but  whoever  the  de- 
linquent enthusiast  might  be  he  was  quickly  suppressed  by 
his  neighbors.  The  police  regulations  were  efficiently  carried 
out  and  there  was  no  disturbance  along  the  whole  route.  The 
one  thing  to  be  deprecated  was  the  presence  of  appropriate 
drapings  on  so  few  house  fronts.  The  best  that  can  be  said 
is  that  they  were  almost  all  meager  to  the  last  degree.  Per- 
haps this  paltry  expression  came  about  from  the  statement 
that  every  detail  of  the  funeral  in  this  city  would  be  of  the 
simplest  character.  That  is  the  most  charitable  interpreta- 
tion to  put  on  what  seemed,  in  many  high  places,  a  lack  of 
proper  respect  for  the  great  hero  of  a  hundred  battles,  who 
yesterday  was  to  make  his  last  march  to  the  sea — the  sea 
whereof  the  waves  break  on  the  shores  where  the  eternals  are." 

The  funeral  train,  starting  from"  the  Jersey  City  depot  of 
the  Pennsylvania  road,  sped  swiftly  across  the  country  to  St. 
Louis,  where  General  Sherman's  body  was  to  be  laid  beside 
those  of  his  wife  and  child.  Wherever  it  stopped  crowds  had 
gathered,  and  at  most  of  the  stations  along  the  route  the  peo- 
ple stood  silently  and  reverently  as  there  passed  a  train 
decked  in  the  emblems  of  a  sorrow  felt  by  a  whole  people. 

Having  passed  through  a  line  of  mourners  from  the  sea  to 
the  Mississippi,  the  cortege  reached  St.  Louis  at  8:45  on  the 
morning  of  Saturday,  March  2ist.  It  was  estimated  that 
25,000  troops  were  in  line  in  the  procession  which  escorted 
the  remains  to  the  last  resting  place  chosen  by  General  Sher- 
man. At  the  grave,  religious  services  were  conducted  by 
Father  Thomas  E.  Sherman  and  the  usual  military  honors 
were  paid. 


556  LIFE   OF   GENERAL   SHERMAN. 

Regarding  the  action  of  the  family  in  having  the  last  offices 
of  their  church  administered  to  General  Sherman  after  he 
had  lost  consciousness,  there  have  been  unwarranted  com- 
ments. Surely  if  ever  a  time  comes  when  the  nation's  hero 
becomes  alone  the  father,  it  is  when  his  well-beloved  children 
stand  beside  his  death-bed  and  realize  that  the  time  has  come 
for  the  last  parting.  A  simple  statement  of  the  facts  was 
made  by  his  brother,  Senator  John  Sherman,  as  follows: 

"GENTLEMEN:  A  paragraph  in  your  paper  this  morning  gives 
an  erroneous  view  of  an  incident  in  General  Sherman's  sick- 
chamber  which  wounds  the  sensitive  feelings  of  his  children, 
now  in  deep  distress,  which,  under  the  circumstances,  I  deem 
it  proper  to  correct.  Your  reporter  intimates  that  advantage 
was  taken  of  my  temporary  absence  to  introduce  a  Catholic 
priest  into  General  Sherman's  chamber  to  administer  the 
rite  of  extreme  unction  to  the  sick  man  in  the  nature  of  a  claim 
that  he  was  a  Catholic.  It  is  well  known  that  his  family 
have  been  reared  by  their  mother,  a  devoted  Catholic,  in  her 
faith  and  now  cling  to  it.  It  is  equally  well  known  that  Gen- 
eral Sherman  and  myself,  as  well  as  all  my  mother's  children, 
are  by  inheritance,  education,  and  connection  Christians,  but 
not  Catholics,  and  this  has  been  openly  avowed  on  all  proper 
occasions  by  General  Sherman;  but  he  is  too  good  a  Christian 
and  too  humane  a  man  to  deny  to  his  children  the  consola- 
tion of  their  religion.  He  was  insensible  at  the  time  and  ap- 
parently at  the  verge  of  death,  but  if  he  had  been  well  and  in 
the  full  exercise  of  his  faculties  he  would  not  have  denied 
to  them  the  consolation  of  the  prayers  and  religious  observ- 
ances for  their  father  of  any  class  or  denomination  of  Chris- 
tian priests  or  preachers.  Certainly,  if  I  had  been  present,  I 
would  at  the  request  of  the  family  have  assented  to  and  rev- 
erently shared  in  an  appeal  to  the  Almighty  for  the  life  here 
and  hereafter  of  my  brother,  whether  in  a  prayer  or  extreme 


LIFE    OF    GENERAL   SHERMAN.  557 

unction,  and  whether  uttered  by  a  priest  or  preacher,  or  any 
other  good  man  who  believed  what  he  spoke  and  had  an  hon- 
est faith  in  his  creed.  I  hear  that  your  reporter  uttered  a 
threat  to  obtain  information  which  I  cannot  believe  you 
would  for  a  moment  tolerate.  We  all  need  charity  for  our 
frailties,  but  I  can  feel  none  for  any  one  who  would  wound 
those  already  in  distress. 

Very  truly  yours,  "JOHN  SHERMAN." 

To  this  a  single  word  may  be  added,  involving  no  theolog- 
ical controversy  or  dogma,  but  granting  to  all  the  right 
claimed  by  every  heart  that  has  felt  the  sorrow  of  parting 
with  loved  ones. 

It  may  be  admitted  with  thfe  scoffer  that  to  the  great  world 
the  service  over  the  body  of  a  consciousless,  dying  man  was  a 
mockery.  Yet  it  was  not  such  to  the  loved  ones  gathering 
there  with  breaking  hearts  and  yet  sustained  by  a  faith  in 
their  religion  and  church.  To  them  there  was  something  of 
comfort  and  hope  in  the  presence  of  the  priest.  It  was  to 
them  a  hope  based  upon  a  faith  that  is  surely  as  much  enti- 
tled to  sympathy  as  the  wanton  agnosticism  which  would 
trespass  on  such  sorrow  for  purposes  of  controversy.  And  not 
even  the  grossest  materialist  will  claim  that  possible  harm 
could  result  from  this  act  dictated  by  affection.  There  was 
no  danger  of  proselyting  there.  The  father  lay  dying,  and  a 
nation  listened  for  the  sad  news  of  the  passing  away  of  a 
hero  who  had  won  imperishable  renown  by  services  which 
mark  the  brightest  pages  of  a  nation's  history,  because  they 
were  imbued  with  no  needless  sacrifice  of  human  life.  From 
every  quarter  of  the  Union  there  came  messages  proving  that 
loving  hearts  were  longing  for  an  opportunity  to  "do  some- 
thing" to  make  the  last  hours  of  the  dying  man  more  peace- 
ful. Was  it  possible  that  this  yearning  should  possess  only 
the  souls  of  comparative  strangers?  Was  it  not  natural 


55$  LIFE    OF    GENERAL    SHERMAN. 

that  each  should  look  to  that  which  to  them  would  bring  the 
greatest  comfort  in  such  an  hour?  And  is  it  not  true  that  to 
every  soldier  heart  will  come  a  new  thought  of  love  for  those 
who,  standing  by  the  bedside  of  their  dying  commander,  ad- 
ministered to  him  for  us  all  whatever  of  consolation  there  was 
in  their  hope  and  their  prayers?  To  those  sons  and  daugh- 
ters I  would  extend  the  most  cordial  expressions  of  love  and 
sympathy.  They  acted  for  a  larger  circle  than  they  can  real- 
ize with  mortal  thought.  Let  them  cherish  their  hope.  Let 
them  rejoice  in  that  they  have  embraced  within  its  fold  the 
loving  and  beloved  father.  And  let  them  tell  the  complain- 
ing world: 

"More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 

Than  this  world  dreams  of.     Wherefore  let  thy  voice 

Rise  like  a  fountain  for  me  night  and  day : 

For  what  are  men  better  than  sheep  or  goats, 

That  nourish  a  blind  life  within  the  brain, 

If,  knowing  God,  they  lift  not  hands  of  prayer 

Both  for  themselves  and  those  who  call  them  friend! 

For  so  the  whole  round  world  is  every  way 

Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God. ' ' 


